Open source and open science:: How it is changing the medical imaging community

The Open Science movement advances the idea that the results of scientific research must be made available as public resource. Limiting access to scientific information hinders innovation, complicates validation, and wastes valuable socio-economic resources. Open Science is an effective way of overcoming the nearsightedness of the contemporary obsession with intellectual property. The practice of Open Science is based on three pillars: Open Access, Open Data, and Open Source. Given that the practice of medical image research pertains to a field that affects the health condition of the public, it is of paramount importance to introduce the concepts of Open Science in domains such as animal research, drug discovery, clinical trials, computer assisted diagnosis and computer assisted treatment.