Is there any API for the search function?

Sorry, I'm not really sure where I should've posted this but...

Is there any API for the search function? Or is there any way I can search the Gallery and return the results externally?

At the moment, I'm working on a simple plugin for Wordpress (and WPG2) that would allow users to search either their embedded Gallery or Wordpress. But then I though it would be nice to give users the option to search both at the same time. But then how do I return the Gallery search results on a Wordpress page?

I imagine this kind of feature would be useful for all embedded environments. Has this been covered before? Or do such techniques already exist? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Aylwin