NTU Helps Japanese Team Crunch Data
12 Nov 2002

Its grid-computing software proves a boon to researchers from Osaka University analysing brain activity

Researchers studying the complexities of brain disorders and mental illnesses in Japan are tapping Singapore’s expertise in using high-performance computer systems to crunch huge amounts of data. The technology, known as grid computing, means doctors will be able to give same-day results of brain tests, thus cutting down on the anxiety and long wait patients have to put up with now. It also allows doctors and researchers to monitor the brain and analyse the information live, so medical help from different countries can be called up to discuss a case instantly.

Working with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a team of doctors, IT experts and a psychiatrist from Japan’s Osaka University have found they can analyse quickly and make sense of the huge amounts of data from a machine that studies brain activity.

Assistant Professor Susumu Date of Osaka University’s Cybermedia Centre explained that the research would lead to greater information-sharing in the field, because the team has developed the software that makes it easy to do so while keeping the data secure.

To collect their data on the brain, the scientists use a scanning process which requires the patient to wear a cap lined with sensors.

These measure the brain’s magnetic fields and can pinpoint areas that are not functioning properly.

The process can also indicate the onset of disorders like Alzheimer’s – the incurable, progressive disease that clogs up the brain and robs people of memory and mental ability.

Because such studies produce huge amounts of information – imagine a mind-boggling billion bytes multiplied a million times – it would take more than a month to process the data from one brain scan using conventional means, explained Associate Professor Francis Lee Bu Sung.

Prof Lee, the head of NTU’s division of computer communications, said that his team has come up with the software to break down such information into digestible portions that computers can sift through quickly, before recombining the parts into a meaningful report for doctors.

“So far, we’ve been working on fast detection of Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, but our techniques could easily be expanded to look at other mental illnesses and brain afflictions,” he said.

He added that the group is discussing a project which would look at the effects of using a mobile phone on the brain.

Explaining why his university has chosen to collaborate with NTU, Prof Date said: “The development of IT in Singapore is remarkable in every field of science.

“By collaborating with NTU’s school of computer engineering, we aim to develop new technologies really necessary for brain science.”

The group will demonstrate its project at a premier seven-day super-computing convention and exhibition that begins in Baltimore in the United States on Saturday.

Called SuperComputer 2002, the yearly event, which focuses on the future of high-performance computing, will be attended by more than 5,000 participants from all over the world.

Two other projects NTU is showcasing there include its work to provide tools that will make it easier for people to use grid computing, as well as a project with computer giant Sun Microsystems to analyse the function of proteins.

Scientists are getting more and more involved in projects that require making sense of huge amounts of data, such as the information being churned out from decoding the human genome.

[Source: The Straits Times]