Kwan Alan C, Salto Gerran, Demosthenes Emmanuella, Lehman Birgitta T, Osypiuk Ewa, Stantchev Plamen, Vasan Ramachandran S, Cheng Susan
Department of Cardiology, Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Boston University's and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States.
MethodsX. 2020 Nov 26;7:101159. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2020.101159. eCollection 2020.
Echocardiographic imaging has been acquired in historical longitudinal cohorts of cardiovascular disease. Many cohorts were established prior to digital recording of echocardiography, and thus have preserved their archival imaging on Video Home System (VHS) tapes. These tapes require large physical storage space, are affected by physical degradation, and cannot be analyzed using modern digital techniques. We have designed and implemented a standardized methodology for digitizing analog data in historical longitudinal cohorts. The methodology creates a pipeline through critical steps of initial review, digitization, anonymization, quality control, and storage. The methodology has been implemented in the Framingham Offspring Study, a community-based epidemiological cohort study with echocardiography performed during serial examinations between 1987 and 1998. We present this method as an accessible pipeline for preserving and repurposing historical imaging data acquired from large cohort studies. The described technique:•Outlines a generalizable pipeline for digitization of analog recordings of echocardiography stored on VHS tapes•Addresses research concerns including quality control, anonymization, and storage•Expresses the authors' individual experience regarding observed image quality, training needs, and potential limitations to help readers understand the costs and benefits of this method.
超声心动图成像已在心血管疾病的历史性纵向队列中采集。许多队列是在超声心动图数字记录之前建立的，因此其存档成像保存在家用录像系统（VHS）磁带上。这些磁带需要大量的物理存储空间，会受到物理降解的影响，并且无法使用现代数字技术进行分析。我们设计并实施了一种标准化方法，用于对历史性纵向队列中的模拟数据进行数字化处理。该方法通过初始审查、数字化、匿名化、质量控制和存储等关键步骤创建了一个流程。该方法已在弗雷明汉后代研究中实施，这是一项基于社区的流行病学队列研究，在1987年至1998年的系列检查期间进行了超声心动图检查。我们将此方法作为一种可获取的流程，用于保存和重新利用从大型队列研究中获取的历史成像数据。所描述的技术：•概述了一种可推广的流程，用于对存储在VHS磁带上的超声心动图模拟记录进行数字化处理•解决了包括质量控制、匿名化和存储在内的研究问题•表达了作者在观察到的图像质量、培训需求和潜在局限性方面的个人经验，以帮助读者理解此方法的成本和收益。
