title: Brain Tumor Database, a free relational database for collection and analysis of brain tumor patient information.
abstract: In this study, we describe the development and utilization of a relational database designed to manage the clinical and radiological data of patients with brain tumors. The Brain Tumor Database was implemented using MySQL v.5.0, while the graphical user interface was created using PHP and HTML, thus making it easily accessible through a web browser. This web-based approach allows for multiple institutions to potentially access the database. The BT Database can record brain tumor patient information (e.g. clinical features, anatomical attributes, and radiological characteristics) and be used for clinical and research purposes. Analytic tools to automatically generate statistics and different plots are provided. The BT Database is a free and powerful user-friendly tool with a wide range of possible clinical and research applications in neurology and neurosurgery. The BT Database graphical user interface source code and manual are freely available at http://tumorsdatabase.altervista.org.
authors.affiliation: University of Genoa, Italy maurizio.bergamino@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergamino
authors.affiliation: George Mason University, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: San Martino University Hospital, Italy.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castelletti
authors.affiliation: San Martino University Hospital, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barletta
authors.affiliation: San Martino University Hospital, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castellan
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D003628:Database Management Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019992:Databases as Topic / Q000295:instrumentation; D063025:Health Information Management / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: MySQL; brain tumors; patient information; relational database; web-based approach