Research
A Space-Time Information System for the NCI Cancer Atlas
Geoffrey Jacquez, BioMedware, Inc., PI
This work is supported by grant R01-CA092669 for 2001-4 from the National Cancer Institute.
Research Abstract
Visualization is a widely used and effective means of communicating information about complex relationships among variables, their geographic distributions, and of how those distributions change through time. Visualizations that are interactive (e.g. giving the user control over viewing perspective, display characteristics, and access to related statistical information) and animated (e.g. able to display change through time as a seamless sequence) comprise an intuitive environment for interrogating databases, extracting knowledge, and for formulating explanatory and other hypotheses.
Animation of white male
colon cancer mortality
rates
(standardized) from Greiling et al. 2005.
Most web-GIS employ a centralized architecture that sends graphics and queries over the www. Because of slow communication protocols this architecture is inherently incapable of supporting real-time interaction between the user, the visualization engine, and the georeferenced database. This project employs two new technologies, Space-Time Information Systems (STIS) and WebBots to develop an open-source system for
- Interactive visualization of space-time change in cancer mortality patterns, and the uncertainties associated with those mortalities;
- Exploring multivariate relationships in cancer mortality as a function of spatial scale.
This open-source system will be disseminated over the www, and is ultimately expected to increase our understanding of how mortality from different cancers covary, with one another, through space, and through time.
Publications
Jacquez, G.M., D.A. Greiling, and A.M. Kaufmann. 2005. Design and implementation of a Space-Time Intelligence System for disease surveillance. Journal of Geographical Systems 7: 7-23.
Greiling, D.A., G.M. Jacquez, A.M. Kaufmann, and R.G. Rommel. 2005. Space time visualization and analysis in the Cancer Atlas Viewer. Journal of Geographical Systems 7: 67-84.
Goovaerts, P. and G.M. Jacquez. 2005. Detection of temporal changes in the spatial distribution of cancer rates using local Moran’s I and geostatistically simulated spatial neutral models. Journal of Geographical Systems 7: 137-159.
Jacquez, G.M. 2004. Current practices in the spatial analysis of cancer: flies in the ointment. International Journal of Health Geographics 3:22.
Jacquez, G.M. and D.A. Greiling. 2003. Geographic boundaries in breast, lung and colorectal cancers in relation to exposure to air toxics in Long Island, New York. International Journal of Health Geographics 2: 4.
Jacquez, G.M. and D.A. Greiling. 2003. Local clustering in breast, lung and colorectal cancer in Long Island, New York. International Journal of Health Geographics 2: 3.
Conferences
BioMedware held two joint conferences for the planning and review of the Arsenic project. These conferences were held with participants in other BioMedware research projects that relate to the space-time information system theme (Arsenic and STroodle): January 2003 and January 2002.
Software
The Cancer Atlas Viewer is currently available from BioMedware. Learn more and/or download it.
Presentations
Greiling, D.A. 2003. Democratization of public health data: A case study of the national atlas of cancer mortality. GeoMed03, Baltimore, MD. (view PDF of slides)