A Robust Web-based Database Solution

Built on top of an open-source MySQL Database Management System (DBMS) using a PHP front-end with an intuitive graphical user interface, LORIS provides a secure web-based and database-driven infrastructure to automate the flow of clinical data for complex multi-site neuroimaging trials and studies.  LORIS was specifically designed to overcome a major limitation of neuroimaging software systems: providing researchers with the ability to easily store, link, and access significant quantities of both scalar (clinical, psychological, genomic) and multi-dimensional (imaging) data.

LORIS is a modular system that integrates all aspects of a multi-site study, from data acquisition and storage to processing and dissemination, within a streamlined platform. Through a standard web browser, the user is able to perform a wide variety of tasks, such as data entry, 3D image visualization and data querying.  At the back-end, Loris stores data independently from any image processing pipeline, such that data can be processed by external image analysis software tools.

Key Capabilities & Features

LORIS can collect behavioral, neurological, and imaging data, including anatomical and functional 3D/4D MRI models, as well as atlases and maps, allowing the researcher to retrieve various forms of data for a given subject.  LORIS also functions as a project monitoring and auditing platform to oversee data acquisition across multiple study sites.

Confidentiality during multi-site data sharing is provided by the Subject Profile Management System, which can perform automatic removal of confidential personal information and multiple real-time quality control checks.  Additionally, web interactions with the LORIS portal take place over an encrypted channel via SSL, ensuring data security.  

LORIS also includes features such as Double Data Entry to facilitate critical data validation for clinical data collections, while the Statistics and Data Query GUI modules provide flexible and powerful integrated analysis tools for researchers.

Application Areas & Partnerships

LORIS was developed at the Montreal Neurological Institute as the data and project management system for the NIH Study of Pediatric Normal Brain Development (NIHPD) to undertake the challenges of integrating data from different domains, such as clinical and genomics data, into neuroimaging processing pipelines.  LORIS has been implemented for several large-scale international multi-centre studies in neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration.  

In neurodevelopment, examples include NIH-funded studies of normal child brain development (NIHPD) and autism (IBIS), a CIHR study in Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN), as well as a large birth cohort study (GUSTO) at the National University of Singapore.  LORIS also underpins the NeuroDevNet research network, a Canadian National Centre of Excellence (NCE), where it has been deployed simultaneously for separate research initiatives on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), and fetal alcohol syndrome (FASD).  
In neurodegeneration, LORIS is the platform for multi-centre studies in Alzheimer’s Disease such as the AddNeuroMed (http://www.innomed-addneuromed.com) and NeuGrid (http://www.neugrid.eu) projects funded by the European FP7 framework.  LORIS is also used by major pharmaceutical companies for internal data handling.  

Collaborations / Partners

• National Institutes of Health Pediatric Database (NIHPD)
• IBIS Network, U.S. Autism Center of Excellence
• GUSTO birth cohort study, Singapore
• OutGrid, European Alzheimer’s Network
• International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM)
• NeuroDevNet NCE on Developmental Disorders
• Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Pfizer Inc.
• StoP-AD, McGill AD network
• Indian Dementia Network, National Brain Research Centre

For more information, contact info-loris.mni@mcgill.ca