ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Images play an important role in medicine. Finding the desired images within the multitude of online image databases is a time-consuming and frustrating process. Existing websites do not meet all the requirements for an ideal learning environment for medical students. This work intends to establish a new web portal providing a centralized access point to a selected number of online image databases. METHODS: A back-end system locates images on given websites and extracts relevant metadata. The images are indexed using UMLS and the MetaMap system provided by the US National Library of Medicine. Specially developed functions allow to create individual navigation structures. The front-end system suits the specific needs of medical students. A navigation structure consisting of several medical fields, university curricula and the ICD-10 was created. The images may be accessed via the given navigation structure or using different search functions. Cross-references are provided by the semantic relations of the UMLS. RESULTS: Over 25,000 images were identified and indexed. A pilot evaluation among medical students showed good first results concerning the acceptance of the developed navigation structures and search features. CONCLUSION: The integration of the images from different sources into the UMLS semantic network offers a quick and an easy-to-use learning environment.