Features

RadPix incorporates a DICOM client developed at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. This client allows RadPix to accept images from a DICOM compliant Scanner or Workstation. Currently, images must be pushed from the Scanner or Workstation.  In the near future, we will be adding functionality to allow RadPix to Browse and "Pull" images from a Scanner or Workstation.

Process DICOM Images

An important feature of RadPix is its processing of the raw DICOM images. By default, the DICOM client delivers images to the PC with a long DICOM type filename, such as
1.2.840.123456.2.21.0.86314.19990402135317.101.0.501,
that is difficult to work with on PCs. When RadPix processes the raw DICOM images, it reads the header of the image and extracts the Exam, Series and Image number of Image and renames the file to a form EeeeSsssIiiii.DCM, which is much more Windows friendly. In addition, RadPix extracts the Patient Name and Patient ID and moves the renamed file to a directory named with the combined Patient Name and Patient ID. If this directory does not exist, RadPix automatically creates it.

Export to Image Types

This feature is useful for converting DICOM images to other graphics formats which can then be easily used in other applications. Currently supported output image types are shown below. In addition, the user may copy images to the clipboard and then paste them into other applications.

• JPEG (*.JPG)
• Windows Bitmap (*.BMP)
• TIFF (*.TIF)
• PNG (*.PNG)

Export to AVI

This feature allows the user to create video clip files from the DICOM images which may then be played on a PC. This is useful for both temporally- and spatially-related image sequences to allow the viewer to better understand the process remote from the workstation or scanner. For instance, a series of ultrasound images scanning through the liver may be created into a video clip to better show the relationship of the anatomical structures.

Export Image Series

This feature was added to create images which could be exported for use on internet web sites. Javascript programming allows the user to set up a series of images and by clicking a button, to scroll through them. The naming conventions used in this function help to simplify the process. Additionally, the very small size of JPG files with respect to the native DICOM images may be used to transfer large amounts of images over the internet or by floppy or zip disk.

Export to PowerPoint Slides

A significant advantage of using RadPix to create slides is that the text annotations often found on slides created from the workstation, are usually not present on the images that are transfered to RadPix. If you remove the annotations from the image on the workstation before doing a screen save, they will not be present on the images transfered to RadPix. If you do not remove them, they will be permanently embedded in the pixels of the image and RadPix will not be able to remove them.

Special Note

Most MRI Images are 256 x 256 pixels when displayed on the workstation or scanner. To improve the quality of the images, do a screen save and then send the image to RadPix. This results in a 512 x512 pixel image, which will then result in a better quality slide.

Caution: Annotations are also saved as part of the image when this is done, so it is best to remove the graphics / annotations from the image before doing the screen save.

Adjust Window/Level

This feature operates like the window and level adjusting which is generally performed on a workstation or scanner. The user can modify the settings to best demonstrate the item of interest. Note that this feature only works on DICOM, Native GE and Raw Image Formats.

ROI Calculations

The ROI Tool allows the user to select a circular or elliptical Region of Interest on the Image. RadPix computes the mean and standard deviation of the pixel data values in the ROI and displays them. In addition, it computes the diameter of the ROI and Area of the ROI.

Clear Image Header

Many medical images contain confidential Patient Information in their headers. RadPix is able to change this information in an image to something more anonymous. You can use the Image Properties dialog to view the information in the image header to verify that the headers have been properly cleared.

NOTE: Some images contain patient information as part of the image itself,and RadPix is unable to identify or conceal this information. The user should verify that all patient information is removed from these images before they are used.

Browse Images

The Browse feature allows the user to quickly browse collections of DICOM images. In addition, the browse feature can view Native GE format, JPEG, TIFF, BMP and PNG files. If the DICOM images have been previously compressed, the preview bitmap is displayed, resulting in significantly faster viewing of the images.

The browse feature supports viewing the images as a group in a table display or one at a time as a movie.

Copy To Clipboard

At any time, the user can copy the current image to the Windows Clipboard. From there, it can be pasted into any Windows application that can accept bitmap images, including MS Word, Photoshop, etc.

Another useful feature is that if you right-click the mouse on the Patient Name or Patient ID fields on the Image Status Bar, that information is copied to the Clipboard

Supported Source Image Types

RadPix can open many common image formats in addition to medical images. Below is a list of some of the image types:

• DICOM Images (See Note)

  CT Images	1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2
  MR Images	1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4
  Ultrasound Images	1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.6
  	1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.6.1
  Capture Images	1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7

• Raw Byte Format
• Various Common Image Formats

  JPEG	JPEG Image
  TIFF	TIFF Image
  BMP	Windows Bitmap
  PNG	PNG Image
  PCX	ZSoft PCX Bitmap
  TGA	Truevision Targa Bitmap
  EPS	Encapsulated PostScript

Note on DICOM Images - These are SOP Class UIDs that we have seen and currently support. If you have examples of other types and they won't load correctly in RadPix, please email an example to info@radpix.com and we will add the capability to view that type.