Specific Aim 1

To establish a web-accessible database of CMR studies, comprising a large number of asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, together with derived functional analyses.

Hypothesis 1.1

A flexible extendible database with substantial numbers of cases and efficient, intuitive access will facilitate data sharing and meta-analyses within the heart research community as has been demonstrated in the brain research community.

Specific Aim 2

To develop CMR specific ontological schema for the input, classification and searching of CMR studies and derived data using standardized protocols compatible with anatomical and physiological ontologies developed for the brain and musculoskeletal system.

Hypothesis 2.1

CMR specific schema for describing semantics of the cardiac image data, analyses and derived models allow efficient human and machine processing of CMR data, compatible with established web ontology protocols.

Specific Aim 3

To develop downloadable software tools for the mapping of cardiac structure and function, translation of results between studies for direct comparison, and the probabilistic evaluation of temporal abnormalities in regional heart wall motion in relation to population subgroups.

Hypothesis 3.1

Parametric maps of cardiac structure and function developed from finite element models enable transformations between studies which correct for systematic sources of bias, and probabilistic mapping of localized wall motion abnormalities between population subgroups.