Case Uploader

The Case Uploader is a guided interface for uploading imaging data to Flywheel during a clinical trial. It is designed for Data Contributors — site staff such as nurses, radiology technicians, or clinical assistants — who are responsible for getting imaging data into Flywheel but have no involvement in downstream research workflows.

Why the Case Uploader Exists

Clinical trials with multiple imaging sites face a fundamental challenge: ensuring that every site contributes data consistently so that trial coordinators can locate and process it reliably. When contributors at different sites use different labeling conventions or place files in unexpected locations, it creates downstream problems for the trial.

The Case Uploader addresses this by presenting contributors with a constrained, guided workflow. Rather than inferring where data belongs from file structure or metadata — as other Flywheel upload methods do — it limits contributors to a pre-defined set of destinations configured by the Trial Coordinator through Session Templates. Contributors select the correct destination using drop-down menus populated from those templates, ensuring consistent data placement across all participating sites.

Personas

Data Contributor

The primary user of the Case Uploader. This person is responsible for uploading imaging data for individual cases during the trial. They are typically not familiar with research workflows or the Flywheel system beyond the upload task itself.

A Data Contributor's interaction with Flywheel begins and ends with the Case Uploader. They are not responsible for anything that happens to the data after it is uploaded.

Trial Coordinator

The person responsible for setting up and managing the Flywheel configuration for a trial. Trial Coordinators configure Session Templates and permissions before contributors begin uploading, and they monitor the import jobs after data is submitted.

How Clinical Trials Organize Data in Flywheel

Clinical trial sites often structure their Flywheel system so that each Group represents a single trial and each Project within a Group represents a distinct clinical site participating in that trial. This structure keeps each site's data isolated: contributors at one site cannot view or modify data from another site.

A Data Contributor typically belongs to one project per trial. Contributors who participate in multiple trials may be members of one project across multiple groups.

What the Case Uploader Does

When a contributor uses the Case Uploader, they:

1. Select the Group and Project for their clinical site.
2. Choose where in the Flywheel hierarchy to place the data: Subject, Session, and Acquisition.
3. Select the files to upload from their local computer.
4. Submit the upload.

The Case Uploader handles DICOM-specific tasks automatically, including grouping files by series, applying de-identification (when configured), and checking for common data quality issues before submission.

After the contributor submits their upload, Flywheel automatically launches a Bulk Import job to process the data and load it into Flywheel Core. This server-side processing happens in the background. Contributors do not need to wait for the import job to finish — once the upload step completes, they can close the Case Uploader or start a new upload for another case while the previous import continues processing in the background.

Key Concepts

Session Templates

Session Templates define the valid session and acquisition labels for a project. The Case Uploader uses Session Templates to populate its drop-down menus, ensuring contributors can only select destinations that conform to the study protocol.

Session Templates must be configured before the Case Uploader can be used. See Session Templates for more information.

DICOM De-Identification

When a de-identification profile is configured at the site, group, or project level, the Case Uploader applies de-identification to all DICOM files locally on the contributor's computer before any data is transferred to Flywheel.

See De-Identification Profiles for more information.

Bulk Import Integration

After a contributor completes an upload, the Case Uploader automatically launches a Bulk Import job to process the staged files and import them into Flywheel Core. All standard Bulk Import behaviors apply, including malware scanning, conflict detection, and audit reporting.

The contributor receives a link to the Bulk Import job upon completion so that the Trial Coordinator or contributor can verify the data was imported successfully.

Getting Started

• For Data Contributors: See How to Upload a Case for a step-by-step guide.
• For Trial Coordinators and Administrators: See Administrator Setup to configure the project before contributors begin uploading.