Searching Slice

Due to the size of the Slice image bank growing by the month, we recently focused on making finding the right image faster and easier. We are excited to release an advanced search tool tailored to biomedical images:

Searching starts with the free text search bar. Search results are ranked so that the most relevant images are presented first. To further refine a search result, filters can be applied. Search results can be narrowed based on image type, species and Relevancy.

All of the images in Slice have been labelled with SNOMED codes, a standard terminology for medical terms that ensures that images are easily categorised and searched. Selecting an image from the search result set, allows a quick preview (on the right) of the image key metadata fields. Matching thumbnail will be marked with light green.

To launch the image viewer and load the slide, click the image on the right, or scroll down to the preview panel, and click the “View image” button.

The Slice free text bar also supports advanced queries, allowing users to search specific fields right from the front page of Slice, or from the search box at the top right. Advanced searching supports operands (AND, OR), as well as keyword and wildcard matching within specific fields corresponding to the information in the Slice metadata.

Keyword matching

Search for the word “heart” in the Body Structure field.body_structure:heart

Search for the phrase “myocardial infarction” in the Disorder fielddisorder:myocardial infarction

Search for the word “heart” in the Body Structure field AND the phrase “myocardial infarction” in the Disorder fieldbody_structure:heart AND disorder:myocardial infarction

Search for the phrase “myocardial infarction” in the Disorder field AND either the word “heart” in the Body Structure field, OR the word “aorta” in the body structure field.disorder:myocardial infarction AND (body_structure:heart OR body_structure:aorta)

Search for “myocardial ” and not “Atherosclerosis” in the Disorder field.disorder:myocardial -disorder:Atherosclerosis*

*(the ‘-’ should be attached to the disorder, with no spaces)

Wildcard matching

Search for any word that starts with “pancrea” in the Body Structure fieldbody_structure:pancrea*Please note that this search method doesn’t support using a * symbol as the first character of a search.

Using advanced searching in Slice can be used with any of the following search fields:

• species_common:
• species_scientific:
• gender:
• age:
• clinical_history:
• material_description:
• disorder:
• original_file_name:
• content_type:
• body_structure:
• body_system:
• procedure:
• macroscopic_orientation:
• description:
• microscopic_image_type:
• wsi:
• stain:
• cell_type:
• microscopic_description:
• modality:
• imaging_description:
• drawing_type:
• drawing_description:
• contributor:
• copyright_owner:
• keywords:
• reference_id: