DICOM database

Main Menu File ->Open DICOM server (Ctrl+O )

nordicICE is installed with a local DICOM database. This comes with a DICOM server that enables the possibility to send and retrieve images from external DICOM servers. In the current version images can be sent from the local server to an external server, and vice versa.

Images can be sorted using the DICOM Database interface and loaded directly into nordicICE from the database.

The nordicICE DICOM Database Interface

The available images in the database are sorted according to the DICOM information associated with the images, with a level indicating how finely grained the grouping has been done.

To display or hide a level just click the level name. When a patient or study is selected, the next level is displayed by default. The buttons on each level can be used to navigate the level, and also refresh or delete single entries for that level. Any level can be sorted by any column by simply clicking the column header. By clicking the same column header twice the order is reversed. The basic functionalities of the buttons in the database are:

Refresh:

Reads the information in from the database.

Load:

Loads the selected study/series/images into nordicICE.

Send:

Initiates transfer of images to a remote archive.

Export:

Initiates the export of images to a selected folder on a selected disk. Images can be anonymized during export.

Import:

Initiates the import of images from a selected folder on a selected disk.

Close:

Closes the database window.

Filters can be added to the content of the database to display only the wanted information. The filters can be edited and applied by clicking the Show Filters button. Patient name and/or id can be selected from a drop down menu, or it can be written in, using '*' as an optional wildcard character. The Patient name and id are not case sensitive. The other filters include study date range, and modality. Click Apply button to apply the filters, or Clear to reset all the filters.

nDC - DICOM Server

The DICOM server is controlled by a separate program running as system service, independently of nordicICE. This service is called nDC (nordic DICOM Communicator). This service handles the sending of images to an external DICOM server, and it can also receive images from external nodes. Received images are inserted into the nordicICE database.

This server can be started, stopped and reset via the nordicDicomCommunicator Interface on the "Settings" tab.

The transfers are logged, and the status of all incoming and outgoing transfers can be viewed by selecting the "Transfer Log" tab.

Transfer log

The transfer log interface is accessed by selecting the "Transfer Log" tab. It displays a list of transfers. Whether to display outgoing or incoming transfers is selected with the combo box in the upper right corner. The interface looks like this:

Transfer Log Interface.

When an element is selected, the status table will give more detailed information on the transfer status. By clicking the Show buttons behind each line in the status table, more details about this level is displayed. The basic functionalities of the buttons in the Transfer Log are:

Refresh:

Reads the log in from the database.

Resend:

Resends the transfer to the same remote archive. Can only be performed on outgoing transfers with status sent or aborted.

Abort:

Aborts the selected transfer. Can be performed on outgoing transfers with status waiting or sending.

Delete:

Removes the selected transfer. If currently sending, the transfer is stopped, and the transfer is removed from the log.

Clear:

If outgoing transfers is selected, this removes all transfers with status sent. For incoming transfers, this removes all with status received.

Close:

Closes the database window.

When the Show button is clicked for a level of the transfer, more options are displayed. The buttons then displayed above the new table perform the same actions as described above. However, the Details button display a dialog, giving even more information about a selected transfer element. Here you can also read the error message when a transfer has failed.

Sending images to external DICOM server

Images can be sent to an external DICOM server via the Send button on the Database tab.

First select the collection of images to send at the appropriate level.

When the Send button is pressed the following box appears:

External DICOM server selection dialog.

Here the user needs to select the external server to send the images to, as well as the sending priority. Once a selection has been made, clicking OK will initiate the transfer. The status of which images has been sent can be viewed by selecting the Transfer Log tab.

For instructions on how to add external DICOM servers, go to Configuring the nordicICE database .

Retrieving images from an external DICOM server

You can query for and retrieve images from any server supporting the DICOM query/retrieve interface. To do so, add information about the server(s) (Query SCP) under the settings tab . You should now be able to perform query/retrieve operations towards this/these servers under the query/retrieve tab.

Query/Retrieve Tab.

Type in the information you want to query for. Select the server you want to query, and click the Query button. Please note that the modality filter is only applied when getting series information after you have selected a study. The results of the query will appear in the query result tables, where you can select on study or series level, and click Retrieve to get the selected study/series. The first time a study is clicked, the server is queried for information about the belonging series. This could cause some delay.

By selecting the Options tab you can set how many matches you want on your query, if a wildcard should be auto appended to the entered patient name and id, and also if you would like the series to load automatically when the retrieve finishes.

Sending images from external DICOM server

Images can be sent directly to the nordicICE DICOM server from any external DICOM entity, e.g. a MR-scanner.
Information about how to configure nordicICE to receive images from an external DICOM entity can be found in Configuring the nordicICE database .