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  • 2020-01-20

A What, When and Where Guide on Open Source DICOM viewers for Radiologists.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The learning objectives of this exhibit are:

  • 1. To know the different open- source Dicom viewers for different platforms(mobile, desktop and tablets)
  • 2. To discuss the pros and cons of these viewers and identify the viewer with the most diverse features for each platform.

BACKGROUND:

There are a lot of Dicom viewers in the market and also available free (open source) online. They have different types of User Interfaces, features, etc. Most of them can be used as a mini PACS as well. They are compatible with Windows, MAC OSX, Android, IOS, and even with Web Browsers. As it might be difficult for an average radiologist, we hope to help in identifying the Dicom viewer most suited for his needs.

FINDINGS AND PROCEDURE DETAILS

The easily accessible and user-friendly viewers across different hardware platforms are as enumerated below:

Desktop application

1. Microdicom Viewer (Free)- It is equipped with the most common tools for viewing the DICOM images. It is free and accessible for everyone but non-commercial use only. It supports Dicom images without any compression and also with JPEG Lossy, Lossless, etc. It also opens images in jpeg, png, tiff, etc. Drag and drop of studies can also be done to view. Encapsulated PDF\’s and structured reports are supported. This viewer can convert dicom to multiple image and video formats like Jpeg, Tiff, Png, WMV, AVI, etc. It can be used to view the dicom images without installation. It has basic image manipulation tools like zoom, pan, measurements, brightness and contrast. It is supported in Windows only.

2. Radiant Dicom Viewer (Free Trial)- It is small in size but is very quick and powerful as it runs in the best hardware environment but also works in an environment with 512MB ram. It has all the necessary tools a radiologist might want like zooming and panning, rotating, windowing like Lung and Bone, Brightness and contrast, Multiplanar Reconstructions,3D Reconstructions, etc. It has annotation tools like freehand Roi also. It supports almost all modalities like DX, CR, MR, CT, PT, MG, etc. It can open Dicom images directly from Patient CDs or any Folder. It has tools to convert Dicom images to Jpegs or WMV. It has the ability to directly Query/Retrieve PACS from this viewer. In Windows having touch support, offers multi-touch gestures. It is only available on Windows platform.

3. Sante Dicom viewer (Free Trial)- It also has almost all the features above two possess. It is available in both Windows and MAC OSX. It also features a mini PACS system that has two versions having different database options i.e., SQLite3 and PostgreSQL. It has support for Dual monitor setup and reporting. It has a built-in Data anonymizer and also has a Dicom print function. It needs a minimum of 2GB of ram to run perfectly.

4. Navegatium Dicom Viewer (Free)- It is a viewer which has full touch support and is available on the Windows store. It has features like 3D Reconstructions, MPR, etc. It also has support for 3D printing. This needs a minimum of 4GB of RAM to work. It has a mini PACS system and a reporting module.

5. OSIRIX Lite or Horos Dicom Viewer (Free but with limited features) - Only created for Mac OSX, is an open-source viewer and PACS software. It has a lot of segmentation tools in addition to the features stated above. Some of these tools need a paid license of the software for usage. It still can be used for non-commercial uses.

Web browsers

1. Orthanc (Free, Open Source) - It is an open-source PACS and Dicom viewer with multiple image storage options. It can store its data in Databases like SQLite3, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and MySQL. It offers all PACS abilities with Query/Retrieving other PACS systems. It has its own viewer and one by a third party company \”OSIMIS\”.

2. OHIF (Free, Open Source) - It is also an open-source PACS and Dicom viewer. It has its own Database and also can be integrated with other open-source PACS systems like Orthanc, etc. Its viewer is based on Tool cornerstone which is written in \”react\” programming language and can be edited for your use.

3. DWV Dicom viewer (Free, Open Source) - It is a lightweight viewer based on JavaScript framework and HTML5. It can be integrated with other programming languages also. It has basic features like zooming, panning, windowing, annotation, etc.

Mobile Applications

1. mRay-Dicom Viewer (Free) - This viewer works on android and IOS phones and is available on respective stores. This is CE-Certified. It can be connected to any PACS system but needs a paid service. It has a user-friendly interface with MPR functionality. It supports all major modalities.

2. DroidRender (Free) - A 3D viewer that is used to view locally stored Dicom files. It has features like 2D/3D reconstructions also.

3. Medfilm (Free) - This viewer works on IOS devices. It is just a basic Dicom viewer with the ability to connect to any type of PACS system.

4. SimplyDICOM Viewer (Free) - This viewer can be used to view locally stored Dicom images on an android phone. It has features like zoom, brightness, contrast, etc. but no annotation or MPR or connection with PACS.

5. Port-Ray Dicom Viewer (Free) - This viewer provides high speed and good connection to PACS. It includes tools like zooming, panning, brightness, contrast, annotation, MPR, etc. Option to encrypt the data is available to meet HIPAA or GDPR compliance. It is also available in the Google Play Store.

CONCLUSION:

We discuss the pros and cons of the different DICOM viewers in this poster.

The poster can be viewed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.26044/ecr2020/C-14260

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