The internet brain volume database: a public resource for storage and retrieval of volumetric data

Every month, numerous publications appear that include neuroanatomic volumetric observations. The current and past literature that includes volumetric measurements is vast, but variable with respect to specific species, structures, and subject characteristics (such as gender, age, pathology, etc.). In this report we introduce the Internet Brain Volume Database (IBVD), www.nitrc.org/projects/ibvd , a site devoted to facilitating access to and utilization of neuroanatomic volumetric observations as published in the literature. We review the design and functionality of the site. The IBVD is the first database dedicated to integrating, exposing and sharing brain volumetric observations across species and disease. It offers valuable functionality for quality assurance assessment of results as well as support for meta-analysis across large segments of the published literature that are obscured from traditional text-based search engines.