W EB ACCESSIBLE DATABASE NEUROSURGEONS Babaji for Chicago (UIC) London (King’s – Medicine) G Narenthiran, Slavin K, Ganesalingam G

Often hear … ‘Is there a national database ?’ ‘….. a national database would be helpful’ ‘…it is expensive to set-up a on-line database..’

Hierarchy Raw data Organised data Information Knowledge Wisdom Database Analysis Peer-reviewed Verified

Database systems Paper Paper Computerised ComputerisedCommon Microsoft Access Microsoft Access FileMaker Pro FileMaker Pro

Web accessible database Without help from IT professionals Reasonable cost

Method Hardware Hardware Software Software Internet connection Internet connection

Hardware Campaq Laptop Campaq Laptop Pentium II 400 MHz Pentium II 400 MHz 6 Gb hard drive 6 Gb hard drive 96 MB RAM 96 MB RAM We initially used a laptop to run the database but, it gets very hot. So we abandoned the laptop and acquired a desktop computer.

Hardware Compaq desktop Compaq desktop 2.5 GHz Pentium GHz Pentium 4 80 Gb hard drive 80 Gb hard drive 256 MB RAM 256 MB RAM

Software FileMaker Pro 6 unlimited FileMaker Pro 6 unlimited

Norton anti-virus

Norton Firewall

Broadband connection BT Business 500 BT Business kB/s 512 kB/s ADSL Modem ADSL Modem Phone filter Phone filter Fixed IP address Fixed IP address

Database ‘Database of functional neurosurgery targets’ ‘Database of functional neurosurgery targets’

Results records 3 records

Costs Desktop £700 Desktop £700 Filemaker Pro unlimited £990 Filemaker Pro unlimited £990 Broadband + fixed IP set-up £150 Broadband + fixed IP set-up £150 Broadband + IP 1 year rental £600 Broadband + IP 1 year rental £600 Total ~ £ 2440

Conclusion It is feasible to set-up and run an ‘Web- accessible’ on-line database at reasonable cost without support from IT professionals It is feasible to set-up and run an ‘Web- accessible’ on-line database at reasonable cost without support from IT professionals FileMaker 6 Unlimited provides a means of setting up web-based databases which could be utilised for multi-instituitional data collection. FileMaker 6 Unlimited provides a means of setting up web-based databases which could be utilised for multi-instituitional data collection.

Authors G Narenthiran, QMC, Nottingham G Narenthiran, QMC, Nottingham IJ Robertson, QMC, Nottingham IJ Robertson, QMC, Nottingham K Slavin, University of Illinois at Chicago, US K Slavin, University of Illinois at Chicago, US G Ganesalingam, Department of Medicine, King’s College Hospital G Ganesalingam, Department of Medicine, King’s College Hospital