Background: Ultrasonography is widely used to assess skeletal muscle and tendon properties, such as architecture, cross-sectional area, and tissue stiffness. Despite its growing application in different scenarios, the lack of accessible and standardized public datasets limits large-scale studies and the development of image analysis algorithms. To address this, we developed the Universal Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography Database (UMUD), a platform designed to facilitate access to these datasets and foster standardization in musculoskeletal ultrasonography imaging research. UMUD is an online repository that aggregates and indexes metadata from publicly available musculoskeletal ultrasonography datasets hosted on platforms like the Open Science Framework and Zenodo. By offering detailed metadata descriptors—such as muscle group, ultrasound device, participant demographics, and publication details—UMUD streamlines dataset discovery and exploration through search and visualization tools. Results: So far, UMUD includes 14 Datasets, including 76.124 images (and/or 2.674 videos) derived from 1.901 participants. The platform also includes benchmark datasets for training and validating image analysis algorithms. These comprise multi-expert analyses of muscle architecture and panoramic cross-sectional area images, a dataset containing overlays of muscle geometry for teaching muscle architecture analysis, and labeled datasets for training deep learning models. Additionally, UMUD lists state-of-the-art automated analysis algorithms to support users in their application. Conclusion: UMUD addresses relevant challenges in musculoskeletal ultrasonography by providing a centralized, standardized repository of datasets and tools. Thus, it promotes transparency and innovation in the field, supporting reproducible research and advancements in automated image analysis. Future developments include adding more datasets, refining user functionalities, and introducing community-driven challenges to enhance its impact.
UMUD: a web application for easy access to musculoskeletal ultrasonography datasets
Sarto F.;Franchi M. V.;
2026
Abstract
Background: Ultrasonography is widely used to assess skeletal muscle and tendon properties, such as architecture, cross-sectional area, and tissue stiffness. Despite its growing application in different scenarios, the lack of accessible and standardized public datasets limits large-scale studies and the development of image analysis algorithms. To address this, we developed the Universal Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography Database (UMUD), a platform designed to facilitate access to these datasets and foster standardization in musculoskeletal ultrasonography imaging research. UMUD is an online repository that aggregates and indexes metadata from publicly available musculoskeletal ultrasonography datasets hosted on platforms like the Open Science Framework and Zenodo. By offering detailed metadata descriptors—such as muscle group, ultrasound device, participant demographics, and publication details—UMUD streamlines dataset discovery and exploration through search and visualization tools. Results: So far, UMUD includes 14 Datasets, including 76.124 images (and/or 2.674 videos) derived from 1.901 participants. The platform also includes benchmark datasets for training and validating image analysis algorithms. These comprise multi-expert analyses of muscle architecture and panoramic cross-sectional area images, a dataset containing overlays of muscle geometry for teaching muscle architecture analysis, and labeled datasets for training deep learning models. Additionally, UMUD lists state-of-the-art automated analysis algorithms to support users in their application. Conclusion: UMUD addresses relevant challenges in musculoskeletal ultrasonography by providing a centralized, standardized repository of datasets and tools. Thus, it promotes transparency and innovation in the field, supporting reproducible research and advancements in automated image analysis. Future developments include adding more datasets, refining user functionalities, and introducing community-driven challenges to enhance its impact.
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