CONFIDENTIAL

iQ-LAUNCHER
ADMINISTRATION GUIDE
Version 1.0.0 Release CONFIDENTIAL INT EN 004R

Copyright © 2003 – 2012 IMAGE Information Systems Ltd.

iQ-LAUNCHER 1.0.0 Administration Guide INT EN – 004D

Contents
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................3

2 System requirements .......................................................................................................................................................3

2.1 Minimum system requirements ..................................................................................................................................3

2.2 Recommended system requirements .....................................................................................................................4
3 Installing the software......................................................................................................................................................4

3.1 Installation after download........................................................................................................................................4

3.2 Installation from CD-ROM...........................................................................................................................................4
3.3 Launching the application ........................................................................................................................................5
4 Uninstalling the software .................................................................................................................................................5

5 Licensing ............................................................................................................................................................................5

6 Maintenance ....................................................................................................................................................................5

7 Software administration ..................................................................................................................................................5

7.1 Configuring iQ-VIEW to use iQ-LAUNCHER ..............................................................................................................6

7.2 Accessing settings .....................................................................................................................................................10
7.3 Managing watched directories ..............................................................................................................................11
7.4 Managing job processing settings .........................................................................................................................12
7.5 Securing settings with a password ..........................................................................................................................12
7.6 Configuring DICOM communication to send a C-STORE command ..............................................................13
7.7 Listing the number of jobs currently processed ...................................................................................................13
8 List of abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................................14

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1 Introduction
iQ-LAUNCHER is a small application that is designed to provide a bridge from iQ-VIEW to third-party
applications that can process DICOM image data. It is able to launch external product applications, if they
support launching via command line access, and hands over the data they should process. These data, and
the corresponding process to launch the application, are called jobs. These jobs are described in so called
“job files” that will be processed by iQ-LAUNCHER. The jobs that are to be processed by iQ-LAUNCHER can be
directly created by iQ-VIEW. iQ-LAUNCHER puts these jobs directly in a process queue when it is running.

After the processing of data with the external applications, iQ-LAUNCHER can optionally deal with changed
DICOM data and send a DICOM 3.0 conformant store command to a DICOM archiving node.

2 System requirements
2.1 Minimum system requirements

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION VERSION REMARKS

Hardware Processor Pentium IV or higher > 1GHz

Main memory Min. 1GB RAM

Hard disk Min. 10 GB DMA33 capable, depending on the volume of

the data to be saved temporarily

Network Network connection with at least 10 Mbits/s

Graphics card Resolution of 1024x768 pixels or more, 24 bit color or at least

8 bit grey output, any OpenGL 1.2 capable graphics card

Display Analog color or grayscale monitor, ≥ 17” for demonstration,

high-resolution monitor for diagnosis

Media drives CD-R drive to install the program from CD-R

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2.2 Recommended system requirements

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION VERSION REMARKS

Hardware Processor Quad Core Intel or AMD Processor > 2GHZ

Main memory >= 3GB Ram

Hard disk >= 100 GB SATA capable

Network Network connection with at least 100 Mbits/s

Graphics card Resolution of 1400x1050 pixels or more, 24 bit color or at

least 8 bit grey output, a high performance nVidia
(Geforce) or ATI (Radeon) graphics card

Display Analog color or grayscale monitor, ≥ 22” for demonstration,

high-resolution monitor for diagnosis

Media drives CD-R drive to install the program from CD-R

3 Installing the software

iQ-LAUNCHER can use Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Professional or Windows 7 Professional
(all 32 bit versions) as its operating system. For more information about Windows XP/Vista/7 and its hardware
system, see Windows XP/Vista/7’s user guides and online help.

iQ-LAUNCHER can either be installed from a CD-ROM or downloaded from the website and installed
afterwards.

3.1 Installation after download

The iQ-LAUNCHER software download includes all of the necessary installation files.

To install iQ-LAUNCHER on your hard disk, follow the instructions given below:

 Download the iQ-LAUNCHER software into a directory of your choice.

 Locate the directory using Windows Explorer and execute the installation file.
 Follow the instructions in the installation wizard to install the iQ-LAUNCER on your hard disk. It is
recommended to install the software in the default directory.

3.2 Installation from CD-ROM

The iQ-LAUNCHER software CD includes all of the necessary installation files.

To install iQ-LAUNCHER on your hard disk, follow the instructions given below:
 Insert the iQ-LAUNCHER Installation CD into the CD drive of your PC.
 Use Windows Explorer to execute the installation file, which is located on the CD.
 Follow the instructions in the installation wizard to install the iQ-LAUNCHER viewer on your hard disk. It is
recommended to install the software in the default directory.

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3.3 Launching the application

To launch iQ-LAUNCHER, use one of the two methods listed below:

 Click on the Windows Start button, select “All Programs” and then in the “iQ-LAUNCHER” folder click on the
iQ-LAUNCHER link.
 Launch Windows Explorer, and find the folder (C:\Program Files\iQ-LAUNCHER), and then double-click iQ-
LAUNCHER.exe.

To confirm that iQ-LAUNCHER has started examine the windows tray section on the bottom right corner of the
screen and look for the following icon:

Figure 1 – iQ-LAUNCHER tray icon

4 Uninstalling the software

The iQ-LAUNCHER software can, easily and safely, be removed from the system at any time.

Follow the steps below to remove iQ-LAUNCHER from the computer:

 Open the “Control Panel” and select “Add or Remove Programs” on Windows XP or “Uninstall or change a
program” on Vista/Windows 7.
 Scroll down to the entry for the iQ-LAUNCHER software and click on it.
 Select “Remove” / “Uninstall” to uninstall the software.
 Afterwards you may have to delete the iQ-LAUNCHER installation folder (by default: C:\Program Files\iQ-
LAUNCHER) manually in Windows Explorer because, even after uninstalling the software, it will still exist and
contain the iQ-LAUNCHER configuration files.

5 Licensing
iQ-LAUNCHER currently does not have any license restrictions.

6 Maintenance
iQ-LAUNCHER itself does not require maintenance.

7 Software administration

This chapter describes how to configure iQ-LAUNCHER as an Interface of iQ-VIEW. This includes the following
tasks:

 Configuring iQ-VIEW to use iQ-LAUNCHER

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 Accessing settings
 Managing watched directories
 Managing job processing settings
 Securing settings with a password
 Configuring iQ-LAUNCER to receive jobs of iQ-VIEW
 Configuring DICOM communication to send a C-STORE command

7.1 Configuring iQ-VIEW to use iQ-LAUNCHER

iQ-VIEW provides the possibility to export image data to an external application for further processing. To do
that, an external tools configuration dialog can be used.

Select “Configure external tools” to open the configuration dialog:

Figure 2 – iQ-VIEW Viewer - External tools menu

The configuration dialog is used to define which images shall be exported from iQ-VIEW to be made available
to an external application, where and how they shall be stored and how the external application shall be
called up.

NOTE:

FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CONFIGURATION PROCESS PLEASE REFER TO YOUR IQ-VIEW MANUAL. IQ-
LAUNCHER CALLS ARE ONLY SUPPORTED BY IQ-VIEW V2.7 AND LATER.

NOTE:

TO CALL AN EXTERNAL APPLICATION FROM IQ-VIEW VIA IQ-LAUNCHER THE EXTERNAL APPLICATION HAS TO
SUPPORT CALLS OVER WINDOWS-COMMAND-LINE. IF YOU WANT TO SEND IMAGE DATA TO THE CALLED
APPLICATION, COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS ALSO HAVE TO BE SUPPORTED BY THE EXTERNAL APPLICATION.
PLEASE REFER TO YOUR 3RD PARTY APPLICATION MANUAL TO CHECK FOR THIS PRERQUISITE.

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The external tool configuration allows you to select all of the necessary settings:

Figure 3 – iQ-VIEW – Configure-Dialog for external tools

 “Name”: Here you can enter the name for the configuration you wish to create. This name can be chosen
freely. However, make sure to use a unique name for every new configuration.
 “Transfer type”: The transfer type states how the selected images are handed over. Currently only file
transfer is available. The images are therefore taken from their original place in the iQ-VIEW imagebox and
are copied to the specified output folder (see below).
 “Transfer level”: The transfer level defines which images are handed over to the external application to be
processed. Available options are:
o “Image (image of active view)”: the image currently active in the viewer (blue frame) is exported
o “Selection (selected images)”: all images currently selected in the viewer (“Image selection”) are
exported
o “Series (all images of same active series)”: all images in the same series to which the image currently
active in the viewer (blue frame) belongs are exported
o “Study (all images of same active study)”: all images in the same study to which the image that is
currently active in the viewer (blue frame) belongs are exported
o “Image as JPEG (JPEG of active view)”: a JPEG of the image currently active in the viewer (blue
frame) is created and stored in the output folder

 “Job inbox folder”: Here a folder must be defined where iQ-VIEW shall store the exported image(s). This is
also the folder where the job files are placed. The job files will be stored in the folder directly, named with
the AE title of the exporting iQ-VIEW and a time string and the images will be stored in subfolders that bear
the same name as the respective job file.

“Select an output folder”: opens a Windows Explorer window in which you can navigate to the
folder that you wish to use. You may also create a new folder.

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 “Application call”: This entry field is used to define how the external application shall be called and how
the images shall be handed over. Select the path to the executable (*.exe) of the external application
and add the necessary parameter(s) from the “Variables” list to hand over the exported image data.

“Select the external application”: opens a Windows Explorer window in which you can navigate to
the application executable that you wish to connect with iQ-VIEW.

o “Variables”: there are different parameters available that can be used to “inform” the external
application about the data it shall process. These parameters can be added by clicking on the
“Variables” link. A submenu is then opened where you can select the appropriate parameters.
Possible options are:
@FileName = using this variable will hand over the name of the image file.
@FileDirectory = using this variable will hand over the path to the directory (= folder) where the image
files are stored.
@PatientID = using this variable will hand over the Patient ID stated in the DICOM header of the
exported image file(s).
@AccessionNumber = using this variable will hand over the accession (= case) number stated in the
DICOM header of the exported image file(s).
@StudyInstanceUID = using this variable will hand over the study instance UID stated in the DICOM
header of the exported image file(s).
@SOPInstanceUID = using this variable will hand over the SOP instance UID stated in the DICOM
header of the exported image file(s).

 “Write DICOMDIR”: If selected, a DICOMDIR file will be written during the export of the selected images,
listing all images. This may be helpful when an external application can read-in DICOMDIR files to speed
up the importing process.

“Add a new configuration”: creates a new configuration into which you can add the necessary
settings.

“Delete the selected configuration”: deletes the configuration that is currently selected in the left pane
of the dialog window.

“Save and close”: saves all changes made in the configuration(s) and then closes the dialog.

“Close without saving”: closes the configuration dialog without saving the changes made.

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 Figure 4 – Example for a configuration of an external application

When a configuration is saved, it is written into an XML file called “ExternalTools.xml”. This file can be found in
the iQ-VIEW installation directory in the subfolder “ExternalViewerTools”. The configuration will also show up in
the “Post-processing” menu of the iQ-VIEW viewer:

Selecting this tool from the “Post-processing” button/menu will then export the image(s) as defined in the
configuration and store them in the selected output folder. A job file and, if enabled, a DICOMDIR is written.

The interface application iQ-LAUNCHER that needs to be installed and configured separately from iQ-VIEW will
then regularly check the output folder for new job files, read them and call up the requested applications.

iQ-LAUNCHER comes with a DICOM SCU. With the help of the DICOM SCU it is possible to transfer the post-
processing results – stored as DICOM in a specified folder – automatically to another DICOM station, e.g. a
PACS or back to the iQ-VIEW station.

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7.2 Accessing settings

To get access the iQ-LAUNCHER settings you have the following options:

 Double-Click the iQ-LAUNCHER tray icon.

 Right-Click the iQ-LAUNCHER tray icon and select the “Settings” menu entry as shown below. (Figure 5 –
Tray context menu)

Figure 5 – Tray context menu

Note:

STATE AND NUMBER OF JOBS IN THE QUEUE OF IQ-LAUNCHER ARE ALSO SHOWN IN SMALL OVERLAYS ON THE
TRAY ICON.

The settings dialog, shown in the Figure 6, consists of the following components:

 A toolbar to control the observing state of iQ-LAUNCHER – 1

 A section for managing the watched directories – 2
 A section for password security settings – 3
 A section for setting up processing behavior – 4
 A section to apply or discard changes to settings – 5
 A section to get a list of the jobs currently being processed – 6
 A section for setting up DICOM C-STORE command – 7

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Figure 6 – Configuration dialog overview

In general changes to the settings will be applied to iQ-LAUNCHER after the bottom “Apply”-Button is clicked.
You can reject changes to the previous settings by clicking the bottom “Discard”-Button. If you want to revert
settings to factory defaults just click the bottom “Restore Defaults”

7.3 Managing watched directories

Watched directories are the places where iQ-LAUNCHER will look for new job-files generated by iQ-VIEW. IQ-
LAUNCHER continuously scans these directories for new jobs and queues them for processing. In the “Watched
Directories”-Section (2 - Figure 6) you can manually add or remove directories that have to be watched by IQ-
LAUNCHER. For this task please use the “Plus”- and “Minus”-Button in this section. The list in this section will then
show all watched directories with their full access path.

Note:

IF YOU ARE CREATING JOBS FROM AN IQ-VIEW INSTALLATION IQ-LAUNCHER WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADD A
WATCHED DIRECTORY (IF IT IS NOT ALREADY LOCATED IN THE LIST). IN CASE IQ-LAUNCHER IS ALSO INSTALLED ON
THE SAME MACHINE, THIS WILL BE DONE WHEN THE FIRST JOB IS CREATED IN IQ-VIEW.

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7.4 Managing job processing settings

You can control the job processing state of iQ-LAUNCHER via the toolbar section (1- Figure 6). There are the
following three states to choose from:

 Start – Start processing currently available and received jobs in configured watched directories.
 Stop – Stop processing currently available jobs in configured directories to watch and clear the queued
jobs. You have to put iQ-LAUNCHER back to the start state to queue jobs again.
 Quit – Quits iQ-LAUNCHER.

In the processing section (4 - Figure 6) at the “Processing” tab area you can influence the way jobs are
processed in iQ-LAUNCHER. There are the following settings provided in this section:

 Autostart watching on application start – If this checkbox is enabled iQ-LAUNCHER automatically starts
observing configured directories when it starts. If it is disabled the user has to start it manually via the tray
context menu or the toolbar of the configuration dialog. (Default: enabled)
 Delete job file and data folder after processing – If this checkbox is enabled iQ-LAUNCHER deletes finished
marked job files and corresponding data folders to clean-up watched directories. If the check box is
disabled job files and related data stay in watched directories and have to be deleted manually. (Default:
enabled)
 Maximum number of simultaneous jobs to process – The combo box configures the maximum number of
simultaneous jobs iQ-LAUNCHER should start and process. You can choose between a value of 1 and 20.
(Default: 1)

Note:

WHEN A JOB CONTAINS TASKS THAT NEED THE INTERACTION OF THE USER, WE RECOMMEND SETTING THE
NUMBER OF SIMULTANEOUS JOBS TO 1 TO AVOID AN INTERRUPTION OF THE WORKFLOW.

After changing the settings you have the options to apply them to the application, discard all current changes
or switch back to the state before. You also have the option to revert all settings to factory defaults.
(5 - Figure 6)

Note:

WHEN CLOSING THE CONIFGURATION WINDOW WITH THE WINDOWS “X” HANDLE IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER
ALL CURRENT CHANGES MADE TO THE SETTINGS ARE DISCARDED.

7.5 Securing settings with a password

iQ-LAUNCHER has the option to protect the application settings with a password. Therefore please enable the
checkbox “Lock settings with password” in section 3 of Figure 6. Enter a password to the first edit field and
confirm it in the second line. iQ-LAUNCHER checks for the following minimum password requirements:

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 Password has to be at least 6 characters long
 Password has to contain at least one capital and one lowercase letter
 Password has to contain one digit or special character (“!?=()/%&§$”#*;:-_{}[]”)

After setting up a password and applying these settings the user is prompted for the password before opening
the settings dialog.

7.6 Configuring DICOM communication to send a C-STORE command

iQ-LAUNCHER has the option to send DICOM data, processed by a 3rd party application, with a C-STORE
command to any DICOM conformant node. For this feature to be enabled, you have to set up the
connection in section 7 of Figure 6 in the “Storage” tab area.

First you have to enable the check box “Store data after processing”.
Then you have to enter information about the source node configuration and the destination node
configuration.

 For the source node you have to specify the wanted AE-Title.
 For the destination node you have to specify the AET-Title, IP-Address or Hostname and network port.

IQ-LAUNCHER will automatically check the connection to the configured node. Network connection and
DICOM-ECHO will be sent automatically to confirm the connection.

Note:

DICOM DATA SENDING IS CURRENTLY AN EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE. DON’T USE IT IN PRODUCTIVE ENVIRONMENTS.
IQ-LAUNCHER CURRENTLY ONLY SUPPORTS SENDING DICOM DATA SETS IN DICOM FILEFORMAT IN LITTLEENDIAN
IMPLICIT TRANSFERSYNTAX.

7.7 Listing the number of jobs currently processed

iQ-LAUNCHER offers the option to list information about all jobs that are currently being processed and that
are scheduled for processing. For this task move the slider in left corner of the configuration window to the
right. (6 - Figure 6) Then a list of the jobs will appear as shown in section 1 - Figure 7.
This list of jobs contains the following information:

 Status-indicator for job processing (left) and storage (right)

Currently not processing job and currently not storing data
Currently processing job and currently storing data
Finished processing job and finished storing data
 Path of the job-file related to the job
 Path of the data directory containing image data and used for storing

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Figure 7 – Configuration dialog with list of current jobs

8 List of abbreviations

ABBREVIATION MEANING
AET / AE-Title Application Entity Title

C-STORE DICOM command for storing of studies

DICOM Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine

GUI Graphical User Interface

IP Internet Protocol

STORE SCP DICOM store as Service Class Provider

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