IBM Supercomputer at Johns Hopkins Hunts for Clues to Heart and Brain Disease
Deep Computing Technology Helps Scientists Reduce Research Time and Bring New Drugs to Market Faster
BALTIMORE (November 17, 1999) – IBM today announced that Johns Hopkins University will be installing an RS/6000 SP supercomputer in its Center for Imaging Science at the Whiting School of Engineering to help find cures for diseases of the heart and brain via image analysis.
Specifically, Johns Hopkins researchers will use the system to try to discover why, so often, the brain degenerates with age, and what causes illnesses including schizophrenia and dementia. In addition, researchers hope to learn how heart attacks can be avoided by testing different medication combinations on heart models in pre-arrhythmia condition.
The researchers will use IBM’s deep computing technologies to construct three-dimensional, interactive computer models on the RS/6000 SP describing the body’s anatomical structure and physiological behavior. These models span from the model of a single gene up to the composite intricacies of organs such as the heart and brain and will give researchers a better understanding of the relationships between microscopic structures and organ functions in both healthy and diseased brains and hearts.
By conducting this groundbreaking research, researchers will seek to develop novel drugs and therapies to help doctors and patients battle major organ disease. Using the RS/6000 SP, scientists hope to cut research times and bring drug therapies to market sooner.
“The RS/6000 SP supercomputing technology will allow us to analyze and access brain images fromlarge numbers of individuals in databases, which provides an opportunity to make precise statistical statements about the onset of diseases related to the human brain,” say Michael Miller, Director of the Center for Imaging Science at Johns Hopkins. “This has not been possible until nowbecause of the sheer complexity of the analysis.”
Source: IBM