As medical imaging becomes more affordable, and the diversity of diagnostic modalities and therapeutic treatments increase, the amount of data being stored increases, and the problem becomes even more critical. One approach to improve retrieval efficiency of images is to employ semantics to establish a defined set of search and classification terms. However, such semantic systems still require the user to make a selection of the most appropriate term or terms to classify a report or image, and the accuracy of the results are thus dependent on the skill and knowledge of the classifier. According to a first aspect of the invention, a retriever is provided for retrieving a medical image having a searchable attribute, the retriever being configured to interface with a semantic database and an image database, and wherein the searchable attribute is determined by segmenting the medical image, using the anatomical model.