Browsing DICOM images

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MIPAV includes a browser that is specifically designed for examining DICOM images. The DICOM browser allows you to view a list of all of the images in a dataset and quickly display each one individually. The browser provides a fast way of locating and selecting specific image slices.
Tip: You can open a DICOM browser at any time after starting MIPAV; and, depending on your computer's memory resources, you can open more than one DICOM browser.

Displaying an image dataset in the DICOM browser

1 Select File > DICOM browser (see Figure 2-1, and Figure 2-2). The Choose Directory dialog box opens, see Figure 2-3.
2 Select the directory in which the DICOM image datasets are stored.
3 Click Open. The DICOM browser (Figure 2-4) appears showing the directory tree in the panel on the upper left of the window.
4 Navigate, if necessary, to the correct subdirectory and select it.
5 Click Parse directory (Figure 2-4). Information appears in the three panels on the right side of the window: patient and study information at the top, dataset information in the middle, and image information at the bottom.
6 Select one of the images listed in the image information panel (Figure 2-5). The image appears in the panel on the left side of the window below the tree structure (Figure 2-6).
You can now continue to browse the images, or you can perform one or more of the following tasks:

  • Adjust the image contrast and brightness.
  • Open selected images.
  • View another image dataset.
  • Create a movie from the image dataset.

Opening the DICOM browser and parsing the image directory

Figure 2. Opening the DICOM browser and parsing the image directory

DICOM Browser Parse.jpg


Tip: You can select consecutive slices by clicking the first slice, pressing and holding down Shift, and then clicking the last slice. To select nonconsecutive slices, press and hold down Ctrl and then click each slice. To adjust image contrast and brightness in the DICOM browser

The Window and Level sliders that appear in the left bottom panel of the DICOM browser allow you to adjust both the contrast and brightness in the image being displayed. Refer to Figure 2-6.
1 Select a slice from the slice listing in the DICOM browser.
2 Move the Window slider to the right to lessen contrast or to the left to intensify contrast.
3 Move the Level slider to the right to increase brightness or to the left to decrease brightness.
To open selected images in the image dataset

DicomOpenSelectedImagesIco.jpg One of the advantages of using the DICOM browser is that you can quickly identify which images in the dataset you wish to work with. Once you've determined the required images, you can open just the slices you selected.


1 Display an image dataset in the DICOM browser.
2 Browse through all of the images in the dataset to identify the slice numbers of the images.
3 Select each of the appropriate slice numbers.
4 Select the Open Selected Images icon. MIPAV opens all of the slices in an image window. You can now use the Image Slice slider in the MIPAV window to view and work with each slice.
To view another image dataset
NewTopDirectoryICo.jpg Once you've opened the DICOM browser, you can quickly switch between working directories. In order to do that:

1 Click the New Top Directory icon. The Choose Directory dialog box opens.
2 In the dialog box, select a directory of interest.Click Open.
3 The DICOM browser appears showing the directory tree in the panel on the upper left of the window.
4 Navigate, if necessary, to the correct subdirectory and select it.
5 Now, click Parse Directory. Information about the new image dataset replaces the information about the previous dataset in the three panels on the right of the window. See also "DICOM browser interface summary".
To create a movie from the image dataset
DicomExtractImagesToAVIIco.jpg Using the DICOM browser you can create an *.AVI file or movie from the selected dataset or chosen slices.
1 Obtain and install, if you have not already done so, the following file from the Sun Java web site: jmf-2_1_1e-windows-i586.exe. This file installs file formats necessary for creating movies.
2 Display an image dataset of interest in the DICOM browser.
3 Browse through all of the images in the dataset to identify the slice numbers of the images you want to appear in the movie.
4 Select each of the appropriate slice numbers. Note that in order to create a movie, you must select at least two slices.
5 Select the Extract image to AVI movies icon. The Set AVI Options dialog box (Figure 3) opens.
6 Specify whether to subsample the image by 1, 2, 3, or 4.
7 Click OK. The Save dialog box opens.
8 Type a name for the movie in File Name.
9 Click Save. The Choose Type of AVI File dialog box (Figure 4) opens.
10 Select one of the methods of writing the file.
11 Type the value for the M-JPEG quality if you selected M-JPEG as the writing method.
12 Click OK. A pop-up window appears with the status.
When the algorithm finishes running, the pop-up window closes. The movie is saved in the directory you specified, and, depending on the file format, the movie may appear in a new window.

Set AVI Options dialog box

Figure 3. Set AVI Options dialog box

Subsample image
Subsamples each image dimension by a factor of 1, 2, 3, or 4.

DICOMSSetAVIOptions.jpg

Frame rate
Specifies how many frames, or slices, should appear in 1 second.
OK
Applies the parameters that you specified.
Cancel
Disregards any changes you made in this dialog box, closes the dialog box, and does not save the file.


Choose Type of AVI File dialog box

Figure 4. Choose Type of AVI File dialog box

Write file as
Specifies the file format in which to save the movie. Choose one of the following:
24-bit uncompressed RGB, 8-bit RLE with LUT, Quicktime movie, M-JPEG, IR32, IR41, Indeo Video 5, MS-MPEG4 V1
Â

DICOM WriteAVIFileAs.jpg

M-JPEG quality (0.1 - 1.0)
Specifies the level of quality, which may be from 0.1 to 1.0, in the M-JPEG file type. This box is only available if you selected M-JPEG in the Write file as box.
OK
Applies the parameters that you specified.


Quicktime Movie

Figure 5. Quicktime movie-one of the eight supported file formats for making movies from DICOM images

ExampleSmitheQuicktimeMovie.jpg


To configure columns in the DICOM browser

DicomConfigureColumnsIco.jpg You can customize the DICOM browser by choosing which columns to display. In order to do that:
1 Click the Configure Columns icon.
2 In the Configure DICOM Columns dialog that appears, select a field from the left dialog window and then click the Add button. The field now appears in the Selection window.
3 Repeat step 2 as many times as necessary.
4 Then, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to set the column order. Refer to Figure 6.
5 The field at the top of the list will appear as the leftmost column in the browser. You can easily change the order by working within the Selection box. Click a column name to select it, and then click Move Up or Move Down button to move the column up or down in the list.

Configure DICOM columns dialog box

Figure 6. Configure DICOM columns dialog box

DICOM ConfiguringColumns.jpg


Selecting all rows (slices)
DicomSelectAllRowsIco.jpg To select all rows in the DICOM browser (or all slices in the dataset), simply click the Select All Rows icon on the browser's toolbar.

DICOM browser interface summary

Menu: File
Disregard series numbers - DICOM images use the DICOM Universal Identifier (UID) stored in the DICOM header to name the image files on the local disk. This long string of numbers and dots is designed to be unique among all DICOM images ever created. The Disregard series numbers option, if checked, disregards this number when shows images in MIPAV DICOM browser.
Exit - exit the browser.
Toolbar
DicomOpenSelectedImagesIco.jpg - Open Selected Image(s);
DicomParseDirectoryIco.jpg - Parse Directory;
NewTopDirectoryICo.jpg - New Top Directory (use to open a new image dataset);
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DicomExtractImagesToAVIIco.jpg - Extract Images to AVI Movie;
DicomConfigureColumnsIco.jpg - Configure DICOM Columns;
DicomSelectAllRowsIco.jpg - Select All Rows.

Next: Sending and retrieving DICOM images