Hello Debian-Med team, I am a researcher in MRI hardware at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. I am currently working on the development of a completely new type of MRI system (see ffc-mri.org), but I would like to avoid the traditional route of commercialisation as I see many problems with it. Instead, I have been thinking for a while of preparing an initiative for the development of open-source hardware in MRI.
The aim of this initiative would be, in a first stage, to pool the technical solutions already in the public domain together so as to help small research labs like mine and, in a second stage, to create a rally point for these labs to share knowledge, resources and to organise collective work. If this proves successful, it may expand into a complete open source MRI hardware platform but that would be in the far future. I already approached several research groups who expressed their enthusiasm about this idea so there would be several academic participants to start with (at least 3, probably 5 to 8), and some of them are already willing to provide some designs. I would like to get some advices from the Debian Med community regarding several aspects: - What solution would you think is the most appropriate to organise a community portal? I do not have any IT help from my University on this project but I am willing to put a bit of my own money to get a server somewhere if necessary. Bear in mind that I have little training on how to maintain a website, though I can take some time to learn. - I know there is an active part of Debian Med that works on MRI software (and make great things, actually!), would any of them be interested in this initiative? If yes, what would you expect from it, or what would you be willing to provide at this stage? Also, would you have some recommendations so that open-sourced MRI hardware would easily interface with the already existing open-source software? - Would you have any suggestions regarding the conduct of such a project? I have no experience in the management of open source projects and I am actively looking for documentation about it. In particular, how can I organise this project so as to avoid bottlenecks in the future? - Can you see any funding bodies that could be interested in this initiative, in the short to medium term? - Do you know of organisations that would be interested to know of this project or to provide guidance? I already plan to contact OSHWA and the CERN Open Hardware Repository, but I am sure there would be others who can help. - Where can I advertise this project efficiently? I am currently thinking about FOSDEM, if this sounds reasonable. That is all for the questions for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and congratulations to you all for the great work you do to maintain and develop the Debian Med project! Lionel The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683. Tha Oilthigh Obar Dheathain na charthannas clàraichte ann an Alba, Àir. SC013683.
