Previously submitted to: JMIR Medical Informatics (no longer under consideration since Mar 17, 2026)
Date Submitted: May 22, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Free and open source software are effective and equitable tools in medical research, practice, and teaching
ABSTRACT
Access to medical research software is often restricted by high costs, limiting opportunities for researchers, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We describe the practical use of free and open source software (FOSS) tools in cardiovascular research, medical education, and clinical workflows. These include applications for biostatistics, DICOM viewing, 3D modelling, and fluid dynamics simulations. FOSS enables work previously limited to proprietary systems, while lowering cost and increasing accessibility. We encourage broader institutional and individual adoption of FOSS to advance equity in medical research.
Citation
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