A distributed clinical data platform for physiological studies in the brain trauma domain

There are many serious and acute physiological conditions about which we have incomplete medical knowledge that can support optimal healthcare intervention. To develop effective treatments a wealth of clinical data is required for collection, analysis and feedback. Such data often does exist but is typically held in a variety of different formats and locations. This paper describes the EU FP7-funded Avert-IT project (www.avert-it.org), which has developed an integrated, real-time physiological data grid infrastructure (HypoNet) to address the specific issue of prediction of hypotensive events in the brain trauma domain and is currently being used as part of a large multi-centre clinical trial. The implementation and application of the HypoNet system is described here. © 2010 IEEE.