| Frequently Asked Questions |
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What do you recommend to digitize x-rays, radiographs, CT's, MRI'? If you want to use a flat bed scanner, you need one with a transparency adapter. But I think you would have better luck using a digital camera to take photos of radiographs. Resolution is not very important for display on a PC - the typical screen resolution is 1024 x 768 pixels (barely a megapixel!) Here is what I would do. Get a film lightbox (eBay if you can't find one), and mount a camera over it. Some of the newer models, including Canon's, have a remote shutter allows you to snap photos via your computer, and immediately display it on a PC, bypassing the compact flash card. Get the image displayed on the PC, then use the Screen capture mode in RadPix Authoring tool to capture the image from the screen. This technique can easily be trained to film room clerks, secretaries, etc. Install a MIRC server either on a PC or a laptop and send "cases" to it. See radpix.com website for more instructions. The MIRC server system is free from RSNA and can be downloaded from mirc.rsna.org. |
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Can I anonymize the images? Yes, you can remove any or all of the Protected Halth Information (PHI) from an image or series of images. |
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How do I use the new RadPix feature to upload cases to MyPACS.net? First, you must create a MyPACS.net account. |
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How do I initially set up and install RadPix? After you download the file to your computer, click on the downloaded .exe file to prepare for installation. Click on Setup.exe to begin the installation. Contact us with problems if they occur by sending a messge to support@RadPix.com. A TCP/IP connection is needed between the scanner/workstation and the PC. Contact your local service representative for more information. This is likely already installed. You will then need to know the IP address of the PC (RadPix will tell you what it is). |
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How much does RadPix Cost? Individual copies are $199 (US) each. Multiple copy discounts are available. Registered users are entitled to minor upgrades at no cost. Discounts will be available to registered users for major upgrades. How long does the demo version work? A free 30 day trial of RadPix is available for download. It is a fully functioning demo, with all features enabled. |
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How do I try out RadPix without setting up a scanner or workstation? Several sample DICOM images are available for download. Chest X-Ray - (2 Mb) Images courtesy of Electronic Radiology Laboratory at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and RSNA. |
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How do I make a Slide? Load an image into RadPix, and along the left side of the window is a toolbar with several icons, including the pointer tool, and the window and level tool. Click on the window and level tool to select it, then left click and move the mouse right to left and top to bottom to change the settings, as on a workstation. When the right window and level are set, click on the pointer tool to select it, then left click and drag across the image. When you release the mouse button, an option box will appear, in which you can then select several options, including Copy to PowerPoint - New Slide. When you select this option, the selected area will be copied into the current PowerPoint as a new slide. If PowerPoint is not currently loaded, it will be started and the selected area will be inserted as the first slide. Click here for help file for further assistance. |
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Why do I need RadPix to create presentations? The native format of most medical images is DICOM. This file format is not supported directly by Windows®. There are other software programs that exist which read this file format, but RadPix was designed in order to easily create high quality presentations. CT, MRI, and CR images are usually saved with 12 bits of data, which means that there are 212 (4096) different values. Standard JPG and GIF images on websites only have 8 (256) bits of data. This means that when you window and level a DICOM image, there are many more possible grayscale settings. Images obtained with digital cameras and flatbed PC scanners generally only acquire 8 bits of data, so any changes to the window and level at a later time are less than optimal. RadPix reads the native images from the scanners, so the user can then window and level throughout the entire range of data that was acquired. Our exclusive Copy to PowerPoint feature (see above) allows for rapid creation of PowerPoint® files, without the intermediate steps often required with other imaging programs. This feature inserts the image in an optimized fashion, maintaining high image quality without making excessively large PowerPoint® files. |
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Creating AVI's (Video files that play on a computer). 1. How do I make AVI's? Load images into RadPix that you want to convert into an AVI video clip. Use the pointer tool (arrow) to select region of interest. Click on Create AVI icon (filmstrip) or File/Create AVI. Select options, including path for output file, frames per second. Press OK. Select video compression (use Full Frames - No compression if you are not sure). You may need to try out different types of compression. Remember that the video "codec" used to create the file must be present on the computer which will eventually play the file, or it will not work. 2. Why do my videos look so pixellated? 3. How do I make excellent quality MRI AVI's? First of all, as you know, MRI's acquired with a 256 or less matrix result in an image of 256 x 256 (even if you acquire in 256 x 192 for instance). The raw images from the workstation are about 137K in size. When there is a really good cine I want to put on a PC, you can do individual screen saves for each of the images in that series, usually about 20-30 or so. This basically turns them into 512 x 512 images = ~513K. In general, do this for all MR images to be put into presentations. The quality is much better. (CT's are natively 512 x 512, so this isn't a problem with them). It does take a little time though. Future RadPix upgrades may better support this feature. 4. Why do my AVI's play fine on my computer but not other ones? The problem is likely that they were created with a "codec" compression agent that the other computer does not have installed. Go back to the original data, and select "Full Frames - Uncompressed." Alternatively, install an updated set of codecs on the other computer. Install the most recent version of Windows Media Player for a good baseline set of codecs, available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/default.asp |
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5. How do I put images on a CD for use in a computer that doesn't have RadPix? - Load images into RadPix to export. - Select Export to JPEG - Enter image in Series Root Filename box. Export images as jpeg's into a separate directory. - Download rad_CD.exe, which contains index.html, and autorun.inf and extract the files to the same directory where the images are. - Use CD software to create a CD of the directory you just created. - When the CD is then put in the computer, (depending on the settings), it will either automatically display the images, or you will need to navigate to the CD and click on index.html. |
. A window will appear, asking for information regarding the case. Enter your MyPACS.net username and password in the top boxes. After you fill in the case information, click the button at the top to upload the case to MyPACS.net.