Faster Degenerative Brain Disease Research

The University of Pisa, an Italian public research university located in Pisa, Italy, has been working with Imago 7, a medical foundation, on research of degenerative brain diseases.

“A researcher there came up with the idea of under-sampling—so getting less data from the (MRI) machine and filling the gaps using pre-computed tables,” says Antonio Cisternino, CIO, University of Pisa. “This approach is effective, as long as you have a lot of memory.”

The university’s current system needed more memory to enable the streamlined data acquisition workflow. After deploying solid-state drives and non-volatile memory express drives, they turned to Intel® Optane™ Drives. Intel Optane technology combines the 3D XPoint™ non-volatile memory media with the company’s advanced system memory controller, interface hardware and software.

The University of Pisa found that by installing Intel Optane drives, they could shrink exam procedure from 40 minutes to about two minutes, says Cisternino.