Implementation of Big Imaging Data Pipeline Adhering to FAIR Principles for Federated Machine Learning in Oncology

Cancer is a fatal disease and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The cure rate in cancer treatment remains low; hence, cancer treatment is gradually shifting toward personalized treatment. Artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics have been recognized as one of the potential areas of research in personalized medicine in oncology. Several researchers have identified the capabilities of AI and radiomics to characterize phenotype and there by predict the outcome of treatment in oncology. Although AI and radiomics have shown promising initial results in diagnosis and treatment in oncology, these technologies are also facing challenges of standardization and scalability. In the last few years, researchers have been trying to develop a research infrastructure for federated machine learning that increases the usability of Big Data for clinical research. These research infrastructures are based on the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (i.e., FAIR) data principles. The India-Dutch “big imaging data approach for oncology in a Netherlands India collaboration” (BIONIC) is a jointly funded initiative by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), aiming to introduce radiomic-based research into clinical environments using federated machine learning on geographically dispersed collections of FAIR data. This article described a prototype end-to-end research infrastructure implemented through the BIONIC partnership into a leading cancer care public hospital in India.