WebMIRS: Providing Internet Access to NHAMES II and III Data and Images
Do you like to experiment with new technologies? If so, here is another resource under development. WebMIRS is a graphical Java program designed to provide access to the NHANES II & III databases of medical survey data and x-ray images. You can access this site at http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/webmirs/index.php. The WebMIRS web site describes itself as follows:
"The Web-based Medical Information Retrieval System (WebMIRS) is a research tool that facilitates the dissemination of multimedia biomedical database information across the Internet. In its initial implementation, it is based on data from the multi-year NHANES II and NHANES III surveys (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys) collected by the National Center for Health Statistics. Subsequent versions will expand the number of data repositories to which access is provided.
"Some of the fields for which WebMIRS is potentially relevant include: epidemiology, multimedia databases, medical imaging, radiology, bioinformatics, vertebral morphometry, and computerized x-ray image understanding and analysis. Examples of biomedical research areas that may potentially benefit from the use of WebMIRS data include all of those targeted by the NHANES II and NHANES III surveys, such as: osteoarthritis, cardiovascular conditions, kidney and bladder disease, tobacco use, and exposure to pesticides (for NHANES II); and diabetes, high blood pressure/cholesterol, gallbladder disease, musculoskeletal conditions, respiratory and allergy conditions, diet, vision and hearing, and dental care (for NHANES III)."
The site has links to installation instructions (including a registration form), a User Guide, and background information on NHANES.
WebMIRS is a project from the Communications Engineering Branch (CEB), Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications. CEB research and development activities in image engineering focus on the capture, storage, processing, online retrieval, transmission, and display of both biomedical documents (mainly journals) and medical imagery. Other projects from the CEB are listed at http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/projects.php.
[Editor's Note: Based on an email message from Marjorie A. Cahn, Head, National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR), National Library of Medicine]