September 30, 2026
About three weeks ago, I started developing MedLens, a Chrome extension designed to make screening research on PubMed faster and more organized. What began as a small project has now become a fully published Chrome extension that anyone can install directly from the Chrome Web Store.
When researchers conduct literature reviews, they may need to work through dozens or even hundreds of PubMed results. Constantly opening articles, returning to search results, and keeping track of which studies should be included or excluded can quickly become inefficient. MedLens was built to simplify that process.
The extension displays article abstracts alongside PubMed search results, allowing users to review studies without repeatedly opening new pages. Researchers can record Include, Maybe, or Exclude decisions, organize exclusion reasons, maintain a screening log, and export their screening records to Excel.
One of my goals was to keep the tool focused on assisting the research workflow rather than replacing researcher judgment. MedLens can provide rule- or keyword-based screening suggestions, but the researcher remains responsible for the final screening decision.
After several weeks of development and testing, MedLens is now available to download from the Chrome Web Store.
For me, this project has been an opportunity to turn a problem I encountered in research into a tool that other researchers can actually use.
Download MedLens on the Chrome Web Store (available as of Sep 30)
MedMuse