A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community
Objective: We present the evolution of medical imaging software and its impact on the medical imaging community through the study of four open-source image analysis software platforms: 3D Slicer, FreeSurfer, FSL, and SPM. Materials and methods: We have studied the impact of these software tools over...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024024393 |
| _version_ | 1797259890623774720 |
|---|---|
| author | David Viar-Hernández Borja Rodriguez-Vila Mario Gil-Correa Norberto Malpica Angel Torrado-Carvajal |
| author_facet | David Viar-Hernández Borja Rodriguez-Vila Mario Gil-Correa Norberto Malpica Angel Torrado-Carvajal |
| author_sort | David Viar-Hernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: We present the evolution of medical imaging software and its impact on the medical imaging community through the study of four open-source image analysis software platforms: 3D Slicer, FreeSurfer, FSL, and SPM. Materials and methods: We have studied the impact of these software tools over time, measured by the number of scientific citations. Additionally, we have also studied the source code evolution by measuring the lines of code and the tarball size of the stable releases and the changes in programming languages. Results and discussion: The rising number of related scientific publications confirms the popularity of these software tools in the research community, albeit some differences can be observed in the popularity of the tools. Moreover, we demonstrate that source code has evolved to modernize and optimize, at least partially thanks to the collaboration and code sharing with the user community. Furthermore, this evolution reveals an increased use of higher-level programming languages and meta-languages. Conclusions: The study of four open-source packages has revealed certain patterns in the evolution of medical imaging software and their impact on the medical image community. Further analyses and complementary metrics are suggested. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T20:04:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ce2491776b5e4528b5a2d5da7b5fd06f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T23:16:37Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-ce2491776b5e4528b5a2d5da7b5fd06f2024-03-17T07:55:27ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402024-03-01105e26408A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging communityDavid Viar-Hernández0Borja Rodriguez-Vila1Mario Gil-Correa2Norberto Malpica3Angel Torrado-Carvajal4Medical Image Analysis and Biometry Laboratory, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Madrid, SpainMedical Image Analysis and Biometry Laboratory, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Madrid, SpainMedical Image Analysis and Biometry Laboratory, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Madrid, SpainMedical Image Analysis and Biometry Laboratory, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Madrid, SpainCorresponding author.; Medical Image Analysis and Biometry Laboratory, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Madrid, SpainObjective: We present the evolution of medical imaging software and its impact on the medical imaging community through the study of four open-source image analysis software platforms: 3D Slicer, FreeSurfer, FSL, and SPM. Materials and methods: We have studied the impact of these software tools over time, measured by the number of scientific citations. Additionally, we have also studied the source code evolution by measuring the lines of code and the tarball size of the stable releases and the changes in programming languages. Results and discussion: The rising number of related scientific publications confirms the popularity of these software tools in the research community, albeit some differences can be observed in the popularity of the tools. Moreover, we demonstrate that source code has evolved to modernize and optimize, at least partially thanks to the collaboration and code sharing with the user community. Furthermore, this evolution reveals an increased use of higher-level programming languages and meta-languages. Conclusions: The study of four open-source packages has revealed certain patterns in the evolution of medical imaging software and their impact on the medical image community. Further analyses and complementary metrics are suggested.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024024393Medical imaging computingOpen-source softwareSoftware evolution |
| spellingShingle | David Viar-Hernández Borja Rodriguez-Vila Mario Gil-Correa Norberto Malpica Angel Torrado-Carvajal A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community Heliyon Medical imaging computing Open-source software Software evolution |
| title | A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| title_full | A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| title_fullStr | A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| title_full_unstemmed | A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| title_short | A case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| title_sort | case study of medical image software evolution and its impact in the medical imaging community |
| topic | Medical imaging computing Open-source software Software evolution |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024024393 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidviarhernandez acasestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT borjarodriguezvila acasestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT mariogilcorrea acasestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT norbertomalpica acasestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT angeltorradocarvajal acasestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT davidviarhernandez casestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT borjarodriguezvila casestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT mariogilcorrea casestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT norbertomalpica casestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity AT angeltorradocarvajal casestudyofmedicalimagesoftwareevolutionanditsimpactinthemedicalimagingcommunity |