[Ctk-developers] Meeting at RSNA

Sun Nov 8 11:07:58 EST 2009

Hi,

Regarding the ITKv4 effort, I will present what I know and what I recommend.

===========
What I know (some is second-hand rumors and some is from an ITK review
meeting held at the NLM in June 2009):

Background: The June NLM meeting recommended that the new ITK consist
of a compact, stable, well-tested core and external modules that
provide domain-specific features.  For example, there could be a
module for microscopy methods, another for video processing, another
for DTI processing, etc.

With this in mind, there will be two types of funding:

* NLM is going to fund multiple (6? 8?) contracts to develop the next
generation of ITK.   Each contract will be about $500K total.   It is
unclear if the timeline is one or two years.  This awards cannot
involve GUI or visualizations - just as ITK does not currently involve
GUI or visualizations.   These awards should not be used to develop
algorithms.  These awards are intended for ITK infrastructure
(wrapping for other languages, multi-threading and distributed
computing support, etc).   These are lengthy (25 page?) proposals.

* NLM is ALSO going to fund ~10 awards to "users" who represent
different application areas, algorithms, and data.   Each of these
"A2D2" awards is going to be for ~150K total for one or two years.
These awards can propose the development of application, auxiliary
(GUI) toolkits, algorithm distribution, data distribution, DICOM
support, etc.   Each group can submit multiple proposals.   The
proposals will probably 5 pages or so.

BOTH call for proposals are expected "any day" - but the NLM has been
making that claim for several months.   I believe the money has been
set-aside, but the NIH is quite swamped with processing
applications/awards associated with the President's economic stimulus
package.

Historically the NLM has made awards to groups in the USA AND in Europe!

========
What I recommend:
* The CTK folks should submit multiple A2D2 proposals.  They can
propose to add algorithms, data, GUI support, DICOM support, etc to
the external modules that will be associated with ITK.   Each proposal
should be independent, but should point towards a common goal.   We
can perhaps prepare some boilerplate text for inclusion in the
proposals.

* If you've done basic ITK development you should also submit
proposals for the ITKv4 core development (Ivo, INRIA, etc.).  Again,
these proposals are meant to stand on their own, but we should
identify a common theme.   The NLM likes to make individual awards and
then create the team themselves.   They did this for the original ITK
development - each of the 5 initial groups had written their own
proposals, as if each would do all development themselves.  Then the
NLM made us work together as a team.   There is some concern that the
NLM won't receive enough of these "core" proposals, so if you have ITK
infrastructure development expertise, please consider applying.
Again, these cannot mention GUI, visualization, etc - such things will
never be in the core of ITK.

I hope this helps,
Stephen

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 12:02 PM, Tarbox, Lawrence <tarboxl at mir.wustl.edu> wrote:
> I heard yesterday from the Kitware folks that NLM(?) may be issuing an RFP to creating the next major version of ITK.  Since we all leverage ITK in some way, and I expect a new version of ITK would be a core piece of CTK, would it be appropriate for the CTK consortium to collectively respond to the anticipated RFP?  If CTK were to submit a proposal, I would suspect that a lion's share of the work would be done by a core group (e.g. Kitware and/or NA-MIC), with perhaps small contributions by others.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ron Kikinis [mailto:kikinis at bwh.harvard.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 06:50 AM
> To: Tarbox, Lawrence
> Cc: ctk-developers at commontk.org
> Subject: Re: [Ctk-developers] Meeting at RSNA
>
> Hello everybody,
>
> Many thanks to Larry for making the room arrangements.
> I have started a page for this event on the NA-MIC wiki. Please add your
> names if you are planning to come. Please feel free to edit and or add
> to the page.
> I have invited Terry Yoo from NLM to join us. Terry is responsible for
> conceiving ITK. I think that he would be interested in our discussions
> and might provide some valuable input.
>
> Ron
>
>
> Tarbox, Lawrence wrote:
>> As we discussed in Oxford, we have arranged for a meeting room at RSNA
>> 2009.  Here are the particulars:
>>
>>
>>
>> Event:  The Common Tool Kit Planning Meeting
>>
>> Time:  9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
>>
>> Venue:  McCormick Place, Lakeside Building
>>
>> Date:  Sunday, November 29, 2009
>>
>> Room:  E262
>>
>>
>>
>> See you in Chicago!
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Ron Kikinis, M.D.,
> Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
> Director, Surgical Planning Laboratory
> http://www.spl.harvard.edu/~kikinis
>
> The material in this message is private and may contain Protected Healthcare Information (PHI).  If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone or return mail.
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-- 
Stephen R. Aylward, Ph.D.
Director of Medical Imaging Research
Kitware, Inc. - North Carolina Office
http://www.kitware.com
stephen.aylward (Skype)
(919) 969-6990 x300