Retrieving data by collection is an easy and convenient way to grab a set of related data, usually assembled with a specific scientific objective in mind. Below is a quick guide for searching and downloading collections in The Cancer Imaging Archive.

Registration and Login

  1. For most collections in the archive, it is no longer required to register a username and log in. 
  2. From the Cancer Imaging Archive Homepage, click the golden button at the right.
  3. You'll be taken to the site as below. Click on "Register Now" as circled below.

    1. Agree to the terms of service.
    2. Fill out the registration form.
    3. You should receive an automated email with a link to confirm your identity. Once you click the link to confirm, you will be ready to log in.
  4. Navigate to https://public.cancerimagingarchive.net/ncia/login.jsf
  5. Log in with your new credentials.

Searching by Collection

  1. Click the Search Images link in the center of the page.
  2. There are three sections one the left side of the page: Collection, Imaging Modality, and Anatomical Site. Scroll down through the search criteria until you see the collections section.
  3. Select the check box next to criteria you want.
    1. Note: you can click the (question) icons next to each collection name to learn more about what kind of images it contains.
  4. Optionally you can change the number of results per page if you'd like to see more than 10 at a time.
  5. Press Submit. The center of the page should populate with your results, as below:
    checked boxes on the left return results in the center
  6. Browse the collection by clicking on any patient in the search results, or move on to the next section if you only wish to download the data.

Downloading the whole Collection

  1. Press the Check All button and then Add to Basket. (or select just the cases you want to download by clicking their check boxes, then Add to Basket). All the circles at the far right should turn red.
  2. Click "Manage Data Basket" (white text in the navy menu bar) to see what you have selected.
  3. Press the Download Manager button to open (or save) a Java applet. You are given the option to specify the output image directory.
  4. Run (or save, then run) main.xhtml.jnlp with Java Webstart (or equivalent) to begin your download. NB: Download Manager may fail if you have a network proxy server in place.