pubmed-search-mcp

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search_biomedical_images

Read-onlyIdempotent

Find medical and scientific images from NLM Open-i with captions, article details, and MeSH terms. Search by query and filter by type, collection, license, and more.

Instructions

🖼️ Search biomedical images from NLM Open-i.

Searches medical/scientific images from Open-i and returns image URLs with metadata (caption, article info, MeSH terms).

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ⚠️ CRITICAL - LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Open-i ONLY supports English queries. If the user queries in non-English (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.), you MUST:

Translate the query to English medical terminology first
Then call this tool with the English query Example: "喉頭水腫" → "laryngeal edema" "胸部X光肺炎" → "chest X-ray pneumonia"

The tool has built-in translation hints for common CJK medical terms, but YOU should always verify the translation is correct.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ SOURCES: ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Open-i (NLM): X-ray, microscopy, clinical images

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ EXAMPLES: ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

General image search: search_biomedical_images("chest pneumonia CT scan")

X-ray only: search_biomedical_images("fracture", image_type="x")

Microscopy images: search_biomedical_images("histology liver", image_type="mc")

Clinical teaching images (MedPix): search_biomedical_images("pneumothorax", collection="mpx")

Case reports with CC-BY license, sorted by date: search_biomedical_images( "lung cancer", article_type="cr", license_type="by", sort_by="d" )

Cardiology specialty images: search_biomedical_images("echocardiogram", specialty="c")

Video content only: search_biomedical_images("surgery technique", video_only=True)

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Args: query: Search query (e.g., "chest X-ray pneumonia") image_type: Filter by image type (Open-i only): Positive filters: - "c": CT scan images - "g": Graphics / line art / diagrams - "m": MRI images - "mc": Microscopy / histology images - "p": PET scan images - "ph": Photographs / clinical photos - "u": Ultrasound images - "x": X-ray images Exclusion filters: - "xg": Exclude Graphics (removes graphic images from results) - "xm": Exclude Multipanel (removes multipanel images) - None: All types (default) collection: Filter by collection (Open-i only): - "pmc": PubMed Central articles - "mpx": MedPix clinical teaching images (high quality) - "cxr": Chest X-ray collection - "hmd": History of Medicine - "usc": USC collection - None: All collections (default) limit: Maximum number of images to return (default 10, max 50) sort_by: Sort results by (Open-i only): - "r": Relevance (default) - "d": Date (newest first) - "o": Oldest first - "t": Title - "e": Education relevance - "g": Graphics priority article_type: Filter by article type (Open-i only): - "cr": Case Report - "or": Original Research - "re": Review - "sr": Systematic Review - "ra": Research Article - "ed": Editorial - "lt": Letter - "bk": Book - and more... (see API docs) specialty: Filter by medical specialty (Open-i only): - "r": Radiology - "c": Cardiology - "ne": Neurology - "pu": Pulmonology - "d": Dermatology - "g": Gastroenterology - "or": Orthopedics - "o": Ophthalmology - "s": Surgery - "p": Pediatrics - "id": Infectious Disease - "i": Immunology - and more... (see API docs) license_type: Filter by Creative Commons license (Open-i only): - "by": CC-BY (Attribution) - "bync": CC-BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial) - "byncnd": CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs) - "byncsa": CC-BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) subset: Filter by subject subset (Open-i only): - "b": Behavioral Sciences - "c": Cancer - "e": Ethics - "s": Surgery - "x": Toxicology search_fields: Search in specific fields (Open-i only): - "t": Title only - "m": MeSH terms only - "ab": Abstract only - "msh": MeSH heading only - "c": Caption only - "a": Author only video_only: If True, only return video content (default False) hmp_type: History of Medicine publication type. Requires collection="hmd".

Returns: Formatted image results with URLs, captions, and article metadata

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`limit`	No
`query`	Yes
`subset`	No
`sort_by`	No
`hmp_type`	No
`specialty`	No
`collection`	No
`image_type`	No
`video_only`	No
`article_type`	No
`license_type`	No
`search_fields`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed21 schema fields changedv0.7.2Sep 13, 2026

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```

changedInput schema / properties / article_type / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "ab",
+      "bk",
+      "bf",
+      "cr",
+      "dp",
+      "di",
+      "ed",
+      "ib",
+      "in",
+      "lt",
+      "mr",
+      "ma",
+      "ne",
+      "ob",
+      "pr",
+      "or",
+      "re",
+      "ra",
+      "rw",
+      "sr",
+      "rr",
+      "os",
+      "hs",
+      "ot"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / collection / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "pmc",
+      "cxr",
+      "usc",
+      "hmd",
+      "mpx"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

addedInput schema / properties / hmp_type

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "enum": [
+        "ad",
+        "ar",
+        "at",
+        "bi",
+        "br",
+        "cr",
+        "ca",
+        "ch",
+        "cg",
+        "cd",
+        "dr",
+        "ep",
+        "ex",
+        "hr",
+        "hu",
+        "lt",
+        "mp",
+        "nw",
+        "pn",
+        "ph",
+        "pi",
+        "po",
+        "pt",
+        "pc",
+        "ps"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Hmp Type"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / image_type / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "xg",
+      "xm",
+      "x",
+      "u",
+      "ph",
+      "p",
+      "mc",
+      "m",
+      "g",
+      "c"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / license_type / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "by",
+      "bync",
+      "byncnd",
+      "byncsa"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / limit / anyOf

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "integer"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  }
-]

addedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum
```
Added value: +50
```
addedInput schema / properties / limit / minimum
```
Added value: +1
```
addedInput schema / properties / limit / type
```
Added value: +"integer"
```

removedInput schema / properties / open_access_only

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "type": "boolean"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "string"
-    }
-  ],
-  "default": true,
-  "title": "Open Access Only"
-}

addedInput schema / properties / query / maxLength
```
Added value: +500
```
addedInput schema / properties / query / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```

changedInput schema / properties / search_fields / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "t",
+      "m",
+      "ab",
+      "msh",
+      "c",
+      "a"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / sort_by / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "r",
+      "o",
+      "d",
+      "e",
+      "g",
+      "oc",
+      "pr",
+      "pg",
+      "t"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / sources

Removed value: -{
-  "default": "auto",
-  "title": "Sources",
-  "type": "string"
-}

changedInput schema / properties / specialty / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "b",
+      "bc",
+      "c",
+      "ca",
+      "cc",
+      "d",
+      "de",
+      "dt",
+      "e",
+      "en",
+      "f",
+      "eh",
+      "g",
+      "ge",
+      "gr",
+      "gy",
+      "h",
+      "i",
+      "id",
+      "im",
+      "n",
+      "ne",
+      "nu",
+      "o",
+      "or",
+      "ot",
+      "p",
+      "py",
+      "pu",
+      "r",
+      "s",
+      "t",
+      "u",
+      "v",
+      "vi"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedInput schema / properties / subset / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "enum": [
+      "b",
+      "c",
+      "e",
+      "s",
+      "x"
+    ],
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / video_only / anyOf

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "boolean"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  }
-]

addedInput schema / properties / video_only / type
```
Added value: +"boolean"
```

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -{
-  "properties": {
-    "result": {
-      "title": "Result",
-      "type": "string"
-    }
-  },
-  "required": [
-    "result"
-  ],
-  "title": "search_biomedical_imagesOutput",
-  "type": "object"
-}New value: +null

First observedv0.5.16Jun 19, 2026

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior4/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true, idempotentHint=true, and destructiveHint=false, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds valuable behavioral context: the critical language requirement (Open-i only supports English), the built-in translation hints, and the fact that it returns formatted results with URLs and metadata. It doesn't contradict annotations.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is long but well-structured with clear sections (CRITICAL, SOURCES, EXAMPLES, Args). The critical language requirement is front-loaded. The parameter documentation is repetitive with the schema enums, but the added explanations (e.g., 'x': X-ray images, 'mc': Microscopy) justify the length. Some decorative elements (box-drawing characters) add noise but don't harm readability.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a 12-parameter tool with no output schema, the description is remarkably complete. It covers the source, the language constraint, all parameter semantics, example calls, and the return format. The only minor gap is that it doesn't describe pagination or error behavior, but the examples and parameter docs are sufficient for an agent to call this tool correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters5/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 0%, so the description carries the full burden of explaining parameters. It does this thoroughly: every parameter (query, image_type, collection, limit, sort_by, article_type, specialty, license_type, subset, search_fields, video_only, hmp_type) is explained with its enum values and meaning. The examples show realistic usage patterns for each filter.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description clearly states the tool searches biomedical images from NLM Open-i and returns image URLs with metadata. It distinguishes itself from siblings like search_clinvar, get_article_figures, and unified_search by specifying the Open-i source and the exact output (image URLs with captions, article info, MeSH terms).

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides extensive usage guidance: when to use it (searching biomedical images), explicit language requirements (translate non-English queries to English), and examples for various filter combinations. It also implicitly distinguishes from siblings by focusing on Open-i image search rather than article retrieval or gene/compound search.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

Deploy Server

search_biomedical_images

Instructions

Input Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

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