William B. Lober, MD
Unversity of Washington
Abstract:
Images abound, as do the needs to describe those images, identify portions of images, and exchange comments and information about images. This is especially true in medicine, and in medical education. We have developed a system which facilitates the authoring of graphical and textual image annotations, and stores these annotations in a text file using an Extended Markup Language (XML) schema. The system includes both an authoring tool, and a simple client for selectively viewing the annotations.
METHODS
The authoring tool was developed as a
Java Application. The image and
annotation files are stored in a web server directory, and the along with the
viewing client, which is a Java Applet.
This applet allows simple navigation between the images. The software is implemented as Pure Java,
using the Microsoft VJ++ development environment, and has been tested using a
Linux (RedHat 6.1) server and Internet Explorer client.
RESULTS
The system performs as anticipated,
allowing for the creation of simple libraries of annotated images, viewable
over the web. The annotation model is
that of a colored outline on a portion of the image, connected by a line to a
label. These annotations be viewed
electively by the user in several modes.
DISCUSSION
Formal evaluation of this system has yet
to be done. The source code is
available under Open Source lisence, and it is hoped that this system may prove
useful in several ways. First, it is a
way to put simple libraries online.
Second, it may help in exploring extensions to the XML schema to support
other models of annotation, such as overlays linked to the original image. Finally, the client may serve as a testbed
to develop new ways to view annotated image content in specific educational
contexts.
Benefit in Attending
Session:
This system will show a technique for creating text-based, sharable image annotations, as well as a simple viewer for these images. This may be helpful for anyone using GIF or JPEG images in a teaching setting.
PRIMARY AUTHOR'S
INFORMATION
William B. Lober
University of Washington Medical Center
Dept of Biological Structure
1959 NE Pacific St
Box 357420
Seattle, Washington 98195
Telephone Number: 206/548-9588
Fax Number: 425/977-0149
E-mail Address: lober@u.washington.edu