Running a Search

Openda’s search engine lets you query across millions of radiology reports to find imaging studies that match your research or development needs. Here’s how to run your first search:

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1. Create a Project.

‍2. Inside the Project, go to search and choose a modality. Select the imaging type from the dropdown: CT (includes contrast-enhanced and CTA), MR (includes MRA), X-Ray, or Other (ultrasound, mammography, bone densitometry, fluoroscopy, and more).

‍3. Select a body part. Choose one or more body parts of interest. If the specific part you need isn’t listed, leave this field blank to search across all regions.

4. Set the source location. Choose the geographic origin of the data if relevant to your study. Multiple selections are allowed. Segmed partners with healthcare providers across five continents, with availability expanding continuously.

5. Enter clinical keywords. This is where the real power lives. Enter keywords to search within the radiology reports themselves. You can search the full report or restrict to the impression section (the radiologist’s summary and diagnostic conclusion). If you want a literal search, you can keep the keywords between double-quotes (i.e., “occlusion”). If you have more than one keyword that can be used in the search strategy, you can separate them by a pipe (i.e., “hemorrhage ”|”hematoma”).

For each keyword, choose how the search engine treats it:

•      Contains: Returns any report mentioning the term

•      Excludes: Removes any report containing the term

•      Contains (no negations): Returns reports where the term appears in a non-negated form (recommended for diagnosis-specific searches)

6. Review and save. Click Search, review the returned reports, select the relevant ones, and click Add to Dataset.