Fissell Kate, Tseytlin Eugene, Cunningham Daniel, Iyer Karthickeyan, Carter Cameron S, Schneider Walter, Cohen Jonathan D
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. fissell+@pitt.edu
Neuroinformatics. 2003;1(1):111-25. doi: 10.1385/ni:1:1:111.
Current fMRI neuroimaging software programs offer the researcher a wealth of analysis methods and tools. However, the incompatibilities in user interface, data format, and computing environment in these tools make it difficult if not impossible for most researchers to take advantage of the full set of resources available for neuroimaging analyses. We describe a graphical computing environment, Functional Imaging Software Widgets (fiswidgets), which was developed to address these interoperability and usability problems. This environment provides a desktop style framework into which 100 subcomponents from a number of widely used fMRI analysis software packages (e.g., AFNI, AIR) are incorporated. It is an open-source, extensible environment available for reuse and modification by other software developers. A discussion of the design criteria (open architecture, modularity, wrapper technology, commercial utilities) that support such loosely integrative computing environments, and the problems entailed in maintaining them (development overhead, distribution logistics, format incompatibilities, graphics vs scripting tradeoffs, and appropriate acknowledgment of software developers) follows.
当前的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）神经成像软件程序为研究人员提供了丰富的分析方法和工具。然而，这些工具在用户界面、数据格式和计算环境方面的不兼容性，使得大多数研究人员即使并非完全不可能，也很难充分利用神经成像分析的全部可用资源。我们描述了一种图形计算环境——功能成像软件小部件（fiswidgets），其开发目的是解决这些互操作性和可用性问题。该环境提供了一个桌面风格的框架，其中纳入了来自多个广泛使用的fMRI分析软件包（如AFNI、AIR）的100个子组件。它是一个开源的、可扩展的环境，可供其他软件开发人员重用和修改。接下来将讨论支持这种松散集成计算环境的设计标准（开放架构、模块化、包装技术、商业实用程序），以及维护这些环境所涉及的问题（开发开销、分发后勤、格式不兼容、图形与脚本的权衡，以及对软件开发人员的适当认可）。
