Download PDF
ACCELERATE: LIFE SCIENCES - Racing to Find a Cure, TGEN Uses DDN® Storage to Unravel the Genetic Components of Disease, Faster
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
- Life Sciences
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Edge Computing & Edge Intelligence
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
TGen, a leading genomics research institute, was facing challenges with its legacy NAS system which was underpowered and unable to handle concurrent jobs without dragging performance below acceptable levels. Scaling NAS performance was expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, data growth was accelerating, making the existing infrastructure untenable. Genomics, the art of extracting understanding from an organism’s genome, is a complex and data-intensive task. The year-on-year improvements, in volume and accuracy of data being generated by gene sequencing instruments are mind-boggling. As these machines become more productive, the price for gene sequencing, assembly, and analysis drops, enabling new diagnostic methods and disease treatments. However, all this genetic data has resulted in a sea change in how to assemble them into meaningful data, so the analysis can take place.
About The Customer
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a leading genomics research institute focused on developing early diagnostics and effective treatment strategies through the understanding and application of genetics. By leveraging state-of-the-art genomic sequencing technology, TGen is at the forefront of understanding the underlying biological effects that are at the root of a broad range of human diseases and disorders. Since its inception, TGen’s mission has been to use genetics to drive decisions and innovations to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Since 2002, TGen’s IT department has been accelerating the discovery process by leveraging new innovative technologies and methods for its user community.
The Solution
TGen approached Arizona State University Advance Computing Center (A2C2) to collaborate on a best-in-class HPC platform that would address the needs of the University and TGen. The solution was based on a legacy HPC system, coined Saguaro which today consists of over 5,000 processor cores delivering more than 40 teraflops of computation power, a 400TB EXAScaler Lustre scratch space based the SFA12K-40™ Storage Engine, 11 Terabytes of aggregate RAM, 1.5 Giga-bytes of aggregate L2 cache, and a Double fat tree DDR InfiniBand network. By deploying EXAScaler at A2C2, and leveraging a 10 Gigabit network interface between the two facilities, TGen was able to eliminate the assembly bottleneck imposed by their legacy clustered NAS/NFS system. TGEN and ASU now have in place a scalable, high-performance storage solution for both today’s and tomorrows’ research.
Operational Impact
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Hospital Inventory Management
The hospital supply chain team is responsible for ensuring that the right medical supplies are readily available to clinicians when and where needed, and to do so in the most efficient manner possible. However, many of the systems and processes in use at the cancer center for supply chain management were not best suited to support these goals. Barcoding technology, a commonly used method for inventory management of medical supplies, is labor intensive, time consuming, does not provide real-time visibility into inventory levels and can be prone to error. Consequently, the lack of accurate and real-time visibility into inventory levels across multiple supply rooms in multiple hospital facilities creates additional inefficiency in the system causing over-ordering, hoarding, and wasted supplies. Other sources of waste and cost were also identified as candidates for improvement. Existing systems and processes did not provide adequate security for high-cost inventory within the hospital, which was another driver of cost. A lack of visibility into expiration dates for supplies resulted in supplies being wasted due to past expiry dates. Storage of supplies was also a key consideration given the location of the cancer center’s facilities in a dense urban setting, where space is always at a premium. In order to address the challenges outlined above, the hospital sought a solution that would provide real-time inventory information with high levels of accuracy, reduce the level of manual effort required and enable data driven decision making to ensure that the right supplies were readily available to clinicians in the right location at the right time.
Case Study
Gas Pipeline Monitoring System for Hospitals
This system integrator focuses on providing centralized gas pipeline monitoring systems for hospitals. The service they provide makes it possible for hospitals to reduce both maintenance and labor costs. Since hospitals may not have an existing network suitable for this type of system, GPRS communication provides an easy and ready-to-use solution for remote, distributed monitoring systems System Requirements - GPRS communication - Seamless connection with SCADA software - Simple, front-end control capability - Expandable I/O channels - Combine AI, DI, and DO channels
Case Study
Driving Digital Transformations for Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices
Diagnostic devices play a vital role in helping to improve healthcare delivery. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of the world’s medical decisions are made with support from in vitrodiagnostics (IVD) solutions, such as those provided by Roche Diagnostics, an industry leader. As the demand for medical diagnostic services grows rapidly in hospitals and clinics across China, so does the market for IVD solutions. In addition, the typically high cost of these diagnostic devices means that comprehensive post-sales services are needed. Wanteed to improve three portions of thr IVD:1. Remotely monitor and manage IVD devices as fixed assets.2. Optimizing device availability with predictive maintenance.3. Recommending the best IVD solution for a customer’s needs.
Case Study
HaemoCloud Global Blood Management System
1) Deliver a connected digital product system to protect and increase the differentiated value of Haemonetics blood and plasma solutions. 2) Improve patient outcomes by increasing the efficiency of blood supply flows. 3) Navigate and satisfy a complex web of global regulatory compliance requirements. 4) Reduce costly and labor-intensive maintenance procedures.
Case Study
Harnessing real-time data to give a holistic picture of patient health
Every day, vast quantities of data are collected about patients as they pass through health service organizations—from operational data such as treatment history and medications to physiological data captured by medical devices. The insights hidden within this treasure trove of data can be used to support more personalized treatments, more accurate diagnosis and more advanced preparative care. But since the information is generated faster than most organizations can consume it, unlocking the power of this big data can be a struggle. This type of predictive approach not only improves patient care—it also helps to reduce costs, because in the healthcare industry, prevention is almost always more cost-effective than treatment. However, collecting, analyzing and presenting these data-streams in a way that clinicians can easily understand can pose a significant technical challenge.