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Participating in NTSU Brain Research - 3D Fly Brain Nervous Network Image Database - Pushing Toward

A image from 3D Fruit-Fly Brain and Nerve Network Interactive DatabaseA image from 3D Fruit-Fly Brain and Nerve Network Interactive Database
The National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) and the Brain Research Center at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) jointly created the 3D Fruit-Fly Brain and Nerve Network Interactive Database. The database pROVides high-definition 3D images of the fruit fly’s brain and nervous system. Using the platform’s search function, researchers from all over the world can compare the stored images with their own research. The management module is innovative in that it can be displayed in a virtual reality environment, a first in the biomedical image research field. This new database, created by a research team led by Dr. Ann-shyn Chiang of the Brain Research Center, possesses a unique 3D image retrieval technology. The stored images are important findings from the team’s research. The database uses the spatial coordinate of each nerve as a storage unit. In order to make the database accessible to any researcher, the NCHC pROVides a web-based interactive platform. The platform allows for maximum display effect utilizing a simple control process. After modularizing the fly brain images, the NCHC is able to assemble the brain model in real time. Users can quickly browse through image models of different modules and select any combination in order to illustrate functionalities like the communications pathways or detailed gene structure. The 3D images are assembled and delivered real-time. This functionality enables experts a more detailed study of the brain’s nerve message delivery pathway, thus, further untangling the brain’s complicated functionalities. After having his research published in the prestigious joual “Cell,” the NCHC was heartened to lea that our old friend, Dr. Chiang, won the Notable Contribution To Technology Award from Taiwan\''s Executive Yuan. In addition to mapping the olfactory nerve network, the NCHC will be collaborating in future research with the Brain Research Center. The NCHC will assist in the imaging of the visual, auditory, gustatory, sleep, and leaing nervous system networks. The results will be showcased through a global service that is under development. This service will become the NCHC’s and the Brain Research Center’s window to the world’s greatest researchers! It will help them unravel the mysteries of the brain’s nervous network and benefit mankind in the quest to find a cure for brain disease.