How to do a literature search in neuroradiology: Smarter, faster, and with AI
- mariomahecha0098
- Jun 4
- 3 min read
Mario Mahecha, Santiago Guzman
If you’ve ever tried keeping up with the latest neuroradiology literature, you know how overwhelming it can get. But the way we do literature research has changed. With the help of AI and better search strategies, you can now focus more on thinking critically and less on clicking through endless abstracts.
Step 1: Start with the right question (Using PICO):
Before you search, take a minute to define exactly what you're looking for. A great method for that is the PICO framework:
Patient/Problem (P): Who are you studying? For example, adults with suspected CNS vasculitis.
Intervention (I): What’s being used or evaluated? Maybe vessel wall MRI.
Comparison (C): What are you comparing it against? Something like conventional MR angiography.
Outcome (O): What do you want to measure? Diagnostic accuracy, for instance.
Once you have your PICO question, you’ll know exactly what to search for. A focused question could be:
· How accurate is vessel wall MRI compared to conventional angiography in diagnosing CNS vasculitis in adults?
Step 2: Use tools that work smarter:
This platform combs through high-quality scientific literature and brings you summaries that actually make sense. It's especially useful when you're pressed for time but still want to know what the evidence says.
For example, you might search:
“Summarize recent studies comparing vessel wall MRI to MRA for CNS vasculitis.”
This tool lets you talk to PubMed using plain language. You just type in your question, and it pulls the most relevant studies with summaries and citations.
Try something like:
“What meta-analyses are available comparing ASL and DSC MRI for pediatric gliomas?”
If you want to find the most cited and influential papers in your topic area, this is the place. It’s particularly helpful for tracking how topics evolve and for figuring out which papers other researchers are actually reading and citing.
Step 3: Organize and analyze your sources with notebookLM:
Once you’ve gathered the articles you need, you can go a step further and upload them to NotebookLM, a tool from Google that acts like your personal research assistant.
The key difference here is that NotebookLM doesn’t hallucinate. That means it only works with the material you’ve uploaded, which makes it perfect for academic work.
Let’s say you’ve collected 10 studies on pediatric gangliogliomas. You can ask things like:
“Which papers reported using DTI in their imaging protocols?”
“What were the recurrence rates after gross total resection in these studies?”
NotebookLM gives you grounded, document-based answers, so you can trust what you’re getting.
Step 4 (Optional): Turn your research into an interactive podcast:
This last part is optional, but genuinely useful. Once your literature is uploaded to NotebookLM, you can explore it interactively, almost like hosting your own research podcast.
Ask questions out loud (or type them in), follow up on ideas, and revisit earlier answers. It’s an engaging way to process your references, especially if you like learning by listening or want to review material while walking, commuting, or preparing a talk.
You’ll find that this kind of back-and-forth can make even dense material feel more accessible and it often helps you spot connections or gaps that static reading doesn’t.
Final thoughts:
Literature research in neuroradiology doesn’t have to be slow or disorganized. If you start with a solid question, use reliable tools, and take advantage of what AI can offer (without losing critical thinking), you’ll work faster and get better results.
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