Loading an image

1. Know where the image is stored

Before you can load an image (or image series), you have to know roughly where the image is stored, and have access to the image. The image can be stored on a database somewhere, stored as a file or even still be on the scanner. In this tutorial, we will assume that the image you want to load is stored as a collection of DICOM files (.dcm files) on your local machine.

2. Start nordicICE

Start nordicICE from the Start menu.

1. Click on Start (normally at the bottom left hand corner of your screen)

2. Start typing nordicICE, and it should appear. Alternatively, use the desktop icon.

3. Open the DICOM Reader

The DICOM reader is a dialog that allows you to find, select and sort the DICOM images you want to study.
To open the DICOM Reader.

1. On the Main menu, click on File.

2. Select the Open DICOM reader ... menu item

4. Specify the search directory.

The DICOM Reader can locate all DICOM files stored below a root directory. Searching for the DICOM files can take some time if the search is not restricted. Thus you should restrict the search by setting the root folder for the search.

1. At the bottom of the dialog, there is a button titled Change Dir ... Click on this button

2. In the Select folder dialog, in the Directories field, locate the image data folder. This is done by opening folders until you reach the folder you want to search from.

3. Click OK

This will initiate a search for DICOM files. All found files will be listed in the Dicom Reader.

5. Filter files

To simplify selecting which files to load, you can filter the collection of files. The available filters are displayed at the top of the dialog. Each filter has a drop down menu that contains a list of all available values. For this tutorial, we will filter based on the Series # field.

1. In the Series # drop down list, select 0008

Only the files belonging to series 8 will be visible.
You can reduce the number of files further by selecting individual files if you want to, by clicking on the first file you want to include, and pressing Ctrl when you click on any additional files you want to load.

6. Load files

Loading the visible files into nordicICE is simple

1. Press the Load all button.

This will close the Dicom reader dialog, and load all the displayed files into a single image window.
If you have selected a subset of the displayed files, the Load Selected button becomes available, and you can press that button to load your selection instead.

Tips:

You can select files from different series or patients and load them into the same image window if you want to.
You can specify the initial search path in the DICOM Reader in the Various tab of the Settings dialog.

Alternatives:

The Dicom Reader can also be opened by the shortcut Ctrl-D or by pressing the toolbar button .