Yottalook's New Updated Images Engine

We have updated our Images engine to include more images.

If you look at the middle of the screen where we have our filters, you will find a brand new filter option called "No Subscription Mode: ON OFF". We have received many feedback requesting ability to filter out images where users don't have subscriptions to. We understand, that while many users from large academic centers may have access to many journals online, this is not the case for many of our users. By turning this option, Yottalook Images will attemp to maximize results that do not require subscription for viewing and bring those results near the top.

Our update includes more than increased number of images. We have also enabled media RSS capability. Download Cooliris, and click on "Start Slide Show" next to the bookmark button below the search box. Experience the new "3D Wall" that lets you browse through hundreds of images with ease and speed. Click on the image to view a larger version as well as caption.

Yottalook Anatomy - Revised Refinements

Today, we are releasing new refinements for the Yottalook Anatomy search engine (www.yottalook.com/labs/yottalook_anat.html). First, you will notice a new refinement called, "Atlas >>". Selection of this "label" will direct the user to another set of label hierarchy, which includes modality and axis plane. What's the purpose? One of the original purposes of creating a radiology-centric anatomy search engine was to serve as a source of various online atlases. We wanted to separate out the atlases from other anatomy-related sites and journal articles. Now, selection of "Atlas >>" will only link you to online atlases. For example, type in "knee" and do a search. Then, click on "Atlas >>". Once you have been directed to the next level of labels, select "AP/PA" and click on any of the returned results.

In addition, similar to the current refinements in the Yottalook References engine, you will find "Google Scholar" and "Not enough results?" labels, which will search through Google Scholar and the entire web, respectively. Also, similar to the current References engine, we have implemented a checkbox option for returning only articles in PDF format.

Yottalook Anatomy Update - Get Radiological Anatomy Content From Select Journals

Following the release of Yottalook Labs this past week, I had one of the residents test out the Yottalook Anatomy engine (www.yottalook.com/labs/yottalook_anat.html). The first anatomical structure he wanted to look for was "Artery of Adamkiewicz". After couple attempts at finding the correct spelling, we found out that the engine failed to return any results. Surprised, I broadened the search by looking up "Artery of Adamkiewicz" on Google Images and snap. I still was not satisfied with the search results. When I did a web search for the term, I got results from sites such as Wikipedia and Who Named It. As a radiologist, when I type in "Artery of Adamkiewicz", I expect to find either information about that anatomical structure and/or an image of it. This little experience has led to revising the engine. Since this past week, we have tweaked our engine to search only for anatomy-related information from select radiology journals. The reasons for limiting the number of journals covered were two fold: 1) to maximize relevancy for those in the field of radiology and 2) to test out this new algorithm prior to increasing the number of journals covered. As a result, now when you type in "Adamkiwiecz", you will get results on this structure that is (hopefully) more relevant to radiologists.

Yottametta Adds 7 More Journals

Yottametta is one of the Yottalook Labs projects (www.yottalook.com/labs/yottametta.html). This week we added following journals in its coverage: Chest and AHA journals, which include Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Circulation, Circulation Research, Hypertension, and Stroke. As of today, the Chest journal contains over 11,000 and AHA journals all together contain over 169,000 figures and tables. Not all the images are radiology-related images, but addition of these journals gives radiologists access to even more images from peer-reviewed sources from a single site. The users should understand one difference with these journals when used with Yottametta. When you click on the tab after entering the search term(s), you will notice that a new browser window opens up with results. This is not a bug but rather complying with the restrictions set by the journal sites.

Along with the new additions, we have fixed the restriction that forced the user to press the button to initiate the search. Now the search will initiate by either pressing "Enter" or by pressing the "Search" button following entering the search term(s).

Yottalook Images Search Engine Expands Coverage

Yottalook has expanded its journal coverage. When we first began our beta testing of the Yottalook Images search engine (www.yottalook.com) back in mid-December, we initially started out by searching through radiology journals only. We have been gradually increasing the number of radiology journals covered. Since about three weeks ago, we have started to include non-radiology journals as well. However, the algorithm for this is trickier as typically non-radiology journals contain many figures that are not directly relevant to the field of radiology. We decided to test out our new algorithm by searching through The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). We silently rolled out this new addition little less than 2 weeks ago. If you would like to see a demonstration of its implementation, type in "ectopic calcinosis" into our Images search engine.

After we were satisfied with the results we were getting with the NEJM, we have since increased our coverage, including journals like JAMA and Annals of Internal Medicine, among several others. To test out its implementation, go ahead and type in terms like "AIDS brain", "anthrax", and "duodenal gastrinoma". Unfortunately, not all radiological images from these various journals have been indexed by Google as of date. As a result, the search results through these journals are less than complete, but we do provide those radiology-related figures that have been indexed by Google and will provide more as they become available.

Yottalook Labs Launched

Today, we launched Yottalook Labs. It is a place where we will be demonstrating various projects we are working on. New innovations are constantly being worked on at iVirtuoso, and we wanted to give the public a sneak preview of some of the projects that are currently in progress. With the launch of Yottalook Labs, we are showing two prototypes: Yottalook Anatomy and Yottametta. These are both interactive prototypes that you can test out and give feedback on.

Yottalook Anatomy is a search engine designed to expedite searching for anatomy related information on the web. Keeping those in the field of radiology in mind, we used an algorithm to give higher relevance to imaging-related anatomy content. Like the other Yottalook search engines, one can refine the results further. For example, you can type in “knee” and then filter by selecting “AP/PA” in the results page and get the labeled anteroposterior view of the knee.

Yottametta is a prototype meta image search engine. Many users have expressed desire to be able to search for images with thumbnail previews. Yottametta offers this type of user interface by utilizing various image search engines already in existence offered by various journal sites. While you will not need subscription to preview the images, some images may require login/subscription for download. For those who want to expand the search results even further, try selecting the “snap” tab.

As each project matures, we will release it on the main Yottalook page. So go ahead and check them out at the Yottalook Labs today by pressing the small “Yottalook Labs” icon on the bottom of the main Yottalook page or by visiting directly at www.yottalook.com/labs.

Yottalook Radiology Search - Now Live!

Yottalook is a free Radiology centric search engine with version 1.0 released as beta. The image search feature provides results from peer-reviewed content in radiology literature only and the reference feature provides results from journals and teaching files online. You can access the search tool at http://www.yottalook.com/

Please provide comments and feedback so that we can enhance the user experience. For those interested in checking out upcoming features can visit http://www.yottalook.com/labs for a look at the alpha version. The alpha version 1.1 is unreliable as it is still undergoing testing and may be down at times. Please provide comments on this blog or via the contact us link on yottalook.com.