Behind i-BLIPS

British Lupus Integrated Prospective System

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is a chronic autoimmune disease that can be fatal, though with recent medical advances, fatalities are becoming increasingly rare. As with other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. SLE can affect any part of the body, but most often harms the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness (called flares) alternating with remissions. Lupus can occur at any age, and is most common in women, particularly of non-European descent. Lupus is treatable symptomatically, mainly with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, though there is currently no cure.

The BLIPS software program was designed in collaboration with the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) as a Windows based database for doctors, clinicians and researchers to acquire patient health and laboratory data and monitor patients response to drug treatments. Although designed for the study of Lupus, this program has much wider uses monitoring patient health and well being against drug dosage and clinical analysis. BLIPS database software for SLE utilises five internationally recognised patient indices - BILAG, SLICC, SF-36, SLAM-R, Selena Sledai, and computes the patients scores along with storing vital laboratory results and medication administered. Since LUPUS crosses multiple human systems the BLIPS software can also be used to monitor patients with disease or disorders in the multiple systems Mucocutaneous, Neurological, Musculoskeletal, Cardiovascular and Respiratory, Vasculitis, Renal, Haematological, Immunological

i-BLIPS is the internet based version of the BLIPS desktop product. While BLIPS is a desktop client - server system best suited for local area networks, i-BLIPS allows users all over the world to collaborate on single studies in a central database accessed through their internet browser. One of the biggest advantages of i-BLIPS over BLIPS is the ease of installation. Being internet browser based, there is no user installation. The application is server based which means that the user simply opens their internet browser, calls the web site, logs in, and enters data, from any PC, anywhere in the world.

i-BLIPS has all the assessments available in BLIPS ( BILAG, SLICC, SF-36, SLAM-R, Selena Sledai ) plus it introduces the new BILAG 2004 index First published in 2004 by the BILAG Group this index has been undergoing clinical validation and refinement at Birmingham University for four years. BILAG-2004 measures disease activity (scored from A to E) in nine systems: constitutional, mucocutaneous, neuropsychiatric, musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, gastrointestinal, ophthalmic, renal and hematologic. The index produces an overview of disease activity rather than a global score; where necessary, the highest score obtained on any of the systems assessed is taken as the overall score.The final version is now available as a database developed exclusively by ADS-Limathon Ltd and is included in i-BLIPS. Other new additions to the range of SLE assessments in available in i-BLIPS are the Lupus QOL index and the Long Term Outcome assessment. i-BLIPS extends its reach beyond lupus for the first time and makes available the ERA database for the study of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis, plus three assessments for study of the muscular disease of Myositis - the MITAX index, MMT (Manual Muscle Testing) and MDI (Myositis Damage Index)

i-BLIPS can be configured to be used by a single physician, at a single clinic, or for multiple users at the clinic. Alternatively, several collaborative lupus research groups in specific countries are already using the power of i-BLIPS to pool the studies from multiple clinics in a bid to increase the understanding of this auto-immune disease. Similarly, pharmaceutical companies are running Clinical Studies on a global scale with hundreds of sites around the world collecting and scoring patient assessments in i-BLIPS, when trialling new drugs to combat the lupus disease.

The Power Behind i-BLIPS ™

	Limathon	The Limathon™ brand, the trademark of ADS-Limathon Limited has been established for 14 years now, providing many high quality database products to a variety of industries ranging from Clinical and Laboratory to IT Project Mangagement. The company are proud of their ISO9001 accreditation achieved in 1999 and held continuously since then. The company staff are Prince2 and ITIL accredited also.
	BLIPS	ADS-Limathon began working with the BILAG Group in 1996, when work commenced on the development of a Windows version of the BILAG Index. In 1998 BLIPS Version 1.0 was launched. In the ten years since then there has been a new version of BLIPS every two years bringing significant enhancements to help the worlds leading lupus physicians monitor their patients and further their understanding of this autoimmune disease. i-BLIPS beckons a new generation of collaboration in this field.
	Ionasys	Ionasys Inc are an independent internet software development company who collaborated with ADS-Limathon, providing the necessary software development skills to produce i-BLIPS. ADS-Limathon project managed the development, while Ionasys supplied the new technologies required to develop i-BLIPS. ADS Limathon system tested the application at all stages of the development to ensure i-BLIPS gave results to the exact BLIPS specification. The final integration testing was outsourced to an independent testing company.
	Apache Tomcat	Apache Tomcat powers numerous large-scale, mission-critical web applications across a diverse range of industries and organizations. Some of these users and their stories are listed on the PoweredBy wiki page. Apache is used to power the i-BLIPS application. Apache Tomcat is an implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies. The Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages specifications are developed under the Java Community Process. Apache Tomcat is developed in an open and participatory environment and released under the Apache Software License. Apache Tomcat is intended to be a collaboration of the best-of-breed developers from around the world.
	MySQL Database	i-BLIPS utilises the MySQL® database which has become the world's most popular open source database because of its consistent fast performance, high reliability and ease of use. It's used on every continent -- Yes, even Antarctica! -- by individual Web developers as well as many of the world's largest and fastest-growing organizations to save time and money powering their high-volume Web sites, business-critical systems and packaged software -- including industry leaders such as Yahoo!, Google, Nokia, YouTube. Not only is MySQL the world's most popular open source database, it's also become the database of choice for a new generation of applications built on the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP / Perl / Python.) MySQL runs on more than 20 platforms including Linux, Windows, OS/X, HP-UX, AIX, Netware, giving you the kind of flexibility that puts you in control.
	Rackspace	Rackspace provide the enterprise class hosting for the i-BLIPS infrastructure. Hosting is the new way of managing computing needs. Hosting providers offer services to support IT systems and computing ranging from simple to very complex. The equipment required (servers, routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, cabinets, software, wiring, etc.) to deliver their services is purchased and managed by the hosting providers. Rackspace was recognised by Microsoft as its 2007 Worldwide Hosting Service Provider of the Year. It was the third time Rackspace had won the award. Rackspace is set up for and experienced in, the delivery of hosting solutions with expert support staff available to resolve issues as quickly as possible. Rackspace was chosen as the hosting provider for i-BLIPS because of their incredible Fanatical Support service. i-BLIPS users benefit from the large network capabilities of Rackspace, as well as the economies of scale of their infrastructure, with the costs spread across their client base e.g. back up and storage infrastructures, making it a more affordable option.
	Dell Computers	i-BLIPS is hosted on servers made by Dell Computers. Dell is a leading global systems and services company, renowned for their product reliability. They are committed to green policies of carbon neutrality and safe recycling. They also donate funds to project '(RED)' which is aimed at fighting AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa