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User Manual
2022. 05
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CETF-DROCS-B-03
This product “Digital Radiography Operating Console Software” complies with the following regulatory:
Council Directive 93/42/EEC concerning medical devices when it bears the following CE marking of
conformity.
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APPLICABLE STANDARDS
The information contained in this manual is confidential and proprietary to E-COM Technology Limited. This
information is provided only to authorize representatives of E-COM's customers solely for the purpose of
facilitating the use of E-COM's products. No information contained herein may be disclosed to any
unauthorized person for any purpose whatsoever without the prior written consent of E-COM Technology
Limited.
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All trademarks, registered trademarks, and product names used within this document are the property of
their respective owners.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... I
1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1
1.1 ABOUT PRODUCT ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 ABOUT MANUAL ..................................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 SAFETY AND REGULATORY...................................................................................................................... 6
1.4 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ....................................................................................................................... 9
1.4.1 Preparations .................................................................................................................................... 9
1.4.2 Installation ...................................................................................................................................... 10
1.4.3 Uninstallation ................................................................................................................................. 14
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6 IMAGE MANAGEMENT........................................................................ 58
6.1 ARCHIVE, IMPORT AND EXPORT............................................................................................................. 58
6.2 PRINT IMAGES...................................................................................................................................... 60
6.2.1 Create an empty film sheet ............................................................................................................ 61
6.2.2 Design Film Layout ........................................................................................................................ 62
6.2.3 Manipulate Images in Layout ......................................................................................................... 63
6.2.4 Add Annotations on Image............................................................................................................. 65
6.2.5 Printing ........................................................................................................................................... 65
6.3 QUEUE MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................................... 66
6.4 VIEWING EXPORTED IMAGES ................................................................................................................ 67
6.5 DELETE AND PROTECT ......................................................................................................................... 68
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User Manual
Page 1
1 Introduction
1
Introduction
Welcome to the world of digital X-ray diagnostic images. Digital Radiography Operating Console
Software (DROCS) is one of the finest intelligent radiography operator console based on Microsoft
Windows operating system. This user manual will provide detailed instructions for its operation.
The software is a PC-based operator console, works as the integrated controlling subsystem of digital
radiography equipment. It is a digital x-ray image acquisition workstation software and provides the
control functions for synchronizing the flat panel Detector (FPD) and the X-ray generating equipment.
It is also an image review workstation with many image manipulation tools.
In the software, X-ray images are stored in a database and are made available to picture archiving
and communication systems (PACS). The option of communicating with patient management
systems (HIS, RIS, etc.) to exchange patient data is also integrated. This software is compliant with
DICOM 3.0.
This chapter provides detailed instructions for the software package installation and uninstallation.
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Product Composition
Item Description
License USB interface, responsible for software intellectual property
Dongle protection. It is plug and play and no driver.
Personal PACS. Provide DICOM network interface service, and
PPACS
responsible for local image transferring and management etc.
Responsible for front-end user interface operations, such as
new study, image acquisition and display, image query and
DROCS
processing, measurement, adding annotations, exporting and
sending images, etc.
Computer Requirements
Item Requirement Comments
CPU Intel® 8th i5/i7 or higher
Memory 8GB minimum Recommended 16GB
Hard disk 256GB or larger Larger if acts as image storage
Either wired or wireless within the hospital local
Network TCP/IP
network.
USB Port Minimum one For license dongle except soft dongle
Best Fit for 1920x1080, Adaptive 2K or 4K larger resolutions
Monitor
Color display
The operating system required is Microsoft 64 bit Windows 7/8/10. With .Net framework v4.x enabled.
Security software can use Windows Defender.
Product Performance
Performance Description
In order to prevent software conflicts, the software described in this
manual should not be installed on the same computer with other
Compatibility
similar software at will, unless the software is verified to be
compatible.
When the computer's disk space reaches the set threshold, the
software may not be able to acquire images normally, but the previous
patient data in the database will not be lost.
Reliability
When the network connection with the image detector is
disconnected, a prompt will be provided; when the physical network
is connected again, the software can automatically restore the
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communication with the detector; and try to obtain data from the
detector again.
The software can exchange images with other workstations and other
imaging systems through the network. When the network connection
between other DICOM nodes and the computer is interrupted for a
long time, image sending will fail. After the network connection is
restored, operators can manually try the failed jobs again. If there is
a short interruption, it can be retransmitted.
Log in with user name and password, and protect copyright with
encryption dongle.
Patient information and images are stored in the database, and
Cyber
Security
access to the database requires special authorization and
qualification.
The log content of operator activity includes event date, time,
operation type, description and result.
The concurrency of local access: one client can be online at the same
time.
Remote image transmission Concurrency: the software can
Concurrency simultaneously transmit images to multiple DICOM nodes at the
same time.
The maximum number of Fly Viewer connections is subject to the
"Maximum Fly Viewer Number" of the dongle.
The imaging performance of this software mainly depends on the
imaging components, such as the imaging detector. For example,
pixel size, screen material and technology, imaging TFT circuit, etc.
The imaging speed is mainly related to the image size, and also
Imaging
Performance depends on the system's exposure synchronization mode; the
imaging speed of hard synchronization is generally faster than soft
synchronization. The imaging speed is also related to the image
transmission medium. High-speed wired networks are generally
faster than wireless networks.
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Operator Qualifications
The personnel who use and operate the software should have the following expertise:
Environmental Constraints
There should be enough lighting in the place where the software is used to ensure that the operator
can see the software interface clearly and also ensure the operator's eye hygiene.
The computer installed with the software should be placed in a cool, ventilated place with temperature
regulation. The operating environmental constraints are described in the below table:
The shipping and storage environmental constraints are described in the below table:
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Contraindication
Not found yet.
Audience
This manual is intended for users of the Digital Radiography Operating Console Software (DROCS).
The targeted clinical users include qualified trained doctors, radiographers, or radiologic technologists.
It is important for you to read and understand the contents of this manual before attempting to use
this software.
Prerequisites
The procedures in this manual assume that audiences have basic computer operation skills and know
how to do basic operations related to the computer’s graphical user interface.
It is essential for you to have necessary knowledge to capably perform the different diagnostic imaging
procedures within your modality. This knowledge is gained through a variety of educational methods
such as clinical working experience, hospital based programs, and as part of many college and
university Radiologic Technology programs.
Graphic Conventions
This manual uses four types of special messages to emphasize information or point out potential risks
to personnel or equipment.
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NOTE: A Note provides additional information that is helpful to you. It may emphasize such
information as expanded explanations, hints, or reminders.
Cautions point out procedures that you must follow precisely to avoid damage
to equipment, loss of data, or corruption of files in software applications.
Warnings point out procedures that you must follow precisely to avoid injury to
yourself or others.
NOTE: All screenshots in this manual are only for use purposes and may not be
fully consistent with the actual user interface due to different software
configurations; for example, color, icon, layout, and so on. Use these screenshots
only as a guide.
The operator must read this manual carefully before operating the system.
Please do not execute the DROC SOFTWARE before you get the necessary
training from the manufacturer.
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Do not attempt any repairs if the DROC SOFTWARE fails to operate correctly.
Only the specified engineer authorized by the manufacturer has the rights to
do this.
It is the User’s responsibility to provide the means for audio and visual
communication between the Operator and the patient.
Keep the patient in full view at all times and never leave the patient
unattended when using the software to acquire images.
Radiation Safety
Always use the optimal technical factors for each procedure to minimize X-ray exposure and to
produce the best diagnostic results. In particular, you must be thoroughly familiar with the safety
precautions before operating this system.
Radiation Protection
You should know that exposure to X-ray radiation may be damaging to health, use great care to
provide protection against exposure to the primary beam. Some of the effects of X-ray radiation are
cumulative and may extend over a period of months or years. The best safety rule for X-ray operator
is “Avoid exposure to the primary beam at all times”. Any object in the path of the primary beam
produces secondary (scattered) radiation. The intensity of the secondary radiation is dependent on
the energy and intensity of the primary beam and the atomic number for the object material struck by
the primary beam. Secondary radiation may be of greater intensity than that of the radiation reaching
the film. Take protective measures to safeguard against it. An effective protective measure is the use
of lead shielding. To minimize dangerous exposure, use such items as lead screens, lead
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impregnated gloves, aprons, thyroid collars, etc. The lead screen should contain a minimum of 2.0
mm of lead or equivalent and personal protective devices (aprons, gloves, etc.) must contain a
minimum of 0.25 mm of lead or equivalent.
When using the software to acquire an x-ray image, it is better for operators
to keep a distance no less than 2 meters from the focal spot and X-ray beam,
protect body and do not expose hands, wrists, arms or other parts of the
body to the primary beam.
Access control for patient data is provided in this software. Any operator needs authorization before
this software access. Different operators may have different roles and permissions, and all user
account information are encrypted. All operator activities as logon, collecting, transferring, or
exporting patient data etc. are recorded. Only authorized personals can check audition records.
This software only collect minimum patient data for examination and provides interfaces to change
inaccurate patient data and examination information. Please retrieve patient date only from authorized
sources such as hospital HIS/RIS servers. It is operator’s responsibility to delete personal’s data if it
is not needed in this software anymore. It is recommended to erase patient data only after it is
transferred. Erasure operations should be controlled by higher privilege operators.
Pseudonymisation or anonymization technologies are widely used when transferring personal data in
this software. Only necessary personal data is collected in the software statistics, and only
pseudonymized and encrypt patient information are logged in the software. Patient information will be
removed when screenshot is take for any purpose.
Each operator can access the software only when correct passwords are
filled in. It is each operator’s responsibility to make sure his/her
passwords are enough complex and keep it confidential.
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NOTE: All names including patient names, technician names, physician names, and etc.
appearing in example screens in this manual are factious. Any sameness to real people is purely
coincidental.
To check these features enable status, please open Windows “Control Panel > Programs > Turn
Windows features on or off” as shown in the below figure.
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As default, during the software installation, these Windows features should be enabled automatically.
However, due to Windows complexity, it is still required to do this check manually.
1.4.2 Installation
The Digital Radiography Operating Console (DROC) software product consists two components: a
software CD-ROM and a dongle. The CD-ROM stores the software installer and user manual. The
dongle is used to control the software license.
The software package includes two parts, PPACS and DROC. During DROC installation, it will check
whether PPACS is installed or not; if not, it will kick off PPACS installation first. You also can manually
install PPACS first. DROC is responsible for synchronizing of all imaging hardware components and
the whole acquisition workflow of the graphic user interface. The relationship of DROC and PPACS
could be shown in the below figure.
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DICOM
DROC PPACS
Networ
PACS
Host Computer
HIS/RIS Printer
During installing the software package, monitor each step and answer
questions in time of other applications, especially Windows Firewall and 3rd-
party anti-virus software.
Make sure that the super dongle of this system is inserted to the USB slot
correctly before any related operation. This USB dongle is driverless.
The Personal PACS (PPACS) is responsible for managing local images and communicating with other
DICOM network nodes, including HIS/RIS, PACS, and Printers.
Different PPACS versions are not compatible with each other. Thus, if the
system has been installed with a previous version, please remove it prior to
this installation.
In software CD-ROM, open the PPACS folder and start the program “PPACSSetup”. Then select a
language for installation. Note, the language selected here is just for installation only; it is not the software
user interface language.
After selecting the installation language, the welcome message appears. Then, the next step is to choose
the installation location.
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The next step is to input the Application Entity (AE) Title and TCP Port of the PPACS service. The
default AE Title is the computer name and the default TCP Port is 104. Normally, they are not needed
to be changed since each computer in the hospital network has a unique name.
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Don’t type an existing name in the AE Title field. Don’t type a used TCP Port for
PPACS. Please consulate the network administrator of this site if needed.
Then, click “Next” button and follow installation wizard to complete PPACS installation. This process will
take about several minutes. After its installation, please restart computer.
After PPACS has been installed successfully, it is time to install DROC. In the software CD-ROM, find
the DROC software installer program and start it. The installation wizard will ask for its installation
location as shown in the below figure.
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To change the default installation folder, you can manually fill in a new folder name or click Browse
button and choose an existing folder as the target installation directory. Then click Next button. This
process will last for several minutes.
1.4.3 Uninstallation
To uninstall the console software, please go to its installation folder and manually run “uninstall.exe”
program; or from the Windows Start > All programs > DROC software, choose the Uninstall program
and the software uninstallation wizard starts. Then, follow its wizard to uninstall the software. It will
take a few minutes to remove related files.
To uninstall the PPACS, start the “Uninstall a program” in Windows Control Panel, as shown in the
following figure. Then, select the “Personal PACS Server” from the program list, click “Uninstall” to
start its uninstallation.
NOTE: After PPACS uninstallation, only its application files are removed but all previous
acquired images are not removed.
Another alternative method is go to PPACS installation folder and manually run “uninst.exe”.
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2 Quick Start
2
Quick Start
This Chapter provides overview of the software functions and describes a basic procedure from the
system starting up to its shutting down including a basic workflow of using the software to acquire
images and send them to output devices. A basic procedure includes below steps:
The below steps give a brief description on how to start the x-ray system and the console software.
1. Start high voltage generator, image detectors, and other hardware components.
2. Check whether all imaging related hardware of the X-ray system operates smoothly.
3. Start the console computer and log in the computer operation system.
4. Start the software and log in it.
NOTE: Refer to the relevant manual for detailed operation instructions of the hardware
components as the high voltage generator, flat panel detector and other X-ray imaging
components in the system.
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In the login window, please select your own user name in the user name list and input your own
password correctly. Then, click the button “Login” or click the “Enter” keyboard.
NOTE: When entering passwords, the software will not display the relevant character information
for the security purpose. Passwords are case sensitive.
For GDPR applicable countries, an operator has to change his/her default password for the first login.
To meet GDPR, the console software requires more complex password rules. The change Password
window is shown as the below picture.
The console software will check whether new passwords can meet its password rules or not. It will
indicate which password rules are not met by new passwords.
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After login the software, the “NEW” patient screen or the “WORKLIST” screen displays. It depends
on the hospital network configuration and operator’s preferences. If no HIS/RIS is connected with the
software, the “NEW” patient screen will be the default screen after login.
The Navigation Pane is on the right side of the software screen, which includes multiple main menus,
which are explained in the below table. Each different menu accomplishes a specific group of
functions. Depending on permissions of your dongle, your software may display different menus.
Patient management related functions, such as new patient, work list from
PATIENT HIS/RIS, and local exam history, etc. For details please refer to Chapter 3
“Worklist Management” and Chapter 6 “Image Management”.
EXIT Exit or logoff the software, or power off the host computer.
An examination have different states from start to end. At different stages, an exam can be started
in different ways.
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For completed exams in the “LOCAL” page, select one exam and
Append click the “EXAM” in the navigation bar to enter the EXAM screen,
Completed
Exam where operators can click [+] at the end of the left index pane to
append new protocols for examination.
In addition to the basic workflow described above, multiple studies of one patient can be performed
together.
Patient
When the same patient has multiple different procedures, each procedure has an accession number.
In the process of examination, each procedure of the patient can be carried out separately or
combined through below two buttons in the "EXAM" screen. This feature needs to be turned on in
SYSTEM > PREFERENCES. When a stitching study or a dual energy study exist in selected multiple
studies, each study is forced to be displayed separately.
One Multiple procedures of one same patient are performed separately. Each
Procedure procedure is an individual page, which only contain its own views in the View
One Study Index pane on the EXAM screen.
For an ongoing examination, its procedures and views can also be modified temporally.
Add Protocol To add protocols, click the [+] at the end of the View Index pane.
Delete To remove a view from the View Index pane, select it and then click the
Protocol/Reject button. If the selected is an image but not a view, clicking this button will reject
Image this image.
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To copy a view, select it and then click the button. If the selected is an image
Copy Protocol
but not a view, clicking this button will copy this image’s view.
When leaving the "EXAM" screen and returning to the "PATIENT" screen or exiting the software, if all
views of the study are completed, this study is completed; if any view is still remaining in the Index
List pane, the software asks whether to complete or suspend this study.
As the most basic workflow of image acquisition, the first step is to create a new patient and select
protocols for examination.
When filling in the basic information of patients, the field marked with “*” is compulsory.
NOTE: Make sure the patient's name and ID number are input correctly. The patient ID number
is unique and different patients have different ID numbers.
Then select procedures for examination. In the upper right area of the screen, the often used protocols
are listed as default for quick selection. By clicking each body part of the virtual person, protocols of
the corresponding part are displayed. When a protocol is selected, its views are added in the lower
right area of the screen.
After adding protocols, click the "EXAM" button in the navigation bar, the new patient window will
close and enter the "EXAM" screen.
In the EXAM screen, the left side of the Index List pane lists views that needs to be exposed. If a view
has been exposed, it will be replaced by the thumbnail of the corresponding acquired image. By
default, images are acquired in the top-to-bottom order of the index list. To acquire the image for a
view which is not the current one, click on the view in the index list pane, and it becomes the current
view for acquisition. After the image is acquired, the exposure sequence will be carried out from top
to bottom by default again.
New Patient
Acquire Image
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Manipulate Image
Output Image
When imaging components are ready for exposure, press and hold the exposure hand switch for a
few seconds (normally 0.5-3 seconds, depending on the type of flat panel detector), and the exposure
will begin. Generally, the generator will give a sound of "di", indicating the exposure ray. Then, release
the hand switch.
After the exposure, the preview image is usually displayed first and then the final full size image is
displayed a few seconds later. In the image viewer screen, a lot of image manipulation tools are
provided for different applications. Please refer to the following chapters for details.
Usually, after an image is acquired successfully, the brightness and contrast of the image can be
adjusted by pressing the right mouse button. Slide up and down to change the window level, while
slide left and right to change the window width of the image.
Acquired images can be sent to the archive server or printed. If the default image storage node is
configured, when an exam is completed, acquired images in this exam will be automatically sent to
the default node.
On the navigation bar, click Exit button. Then the exit window will pop up as the following figure.
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To logoff the software so that other users can log in, click the “Logoff” button.
RECOMMEND: It is recommended to shut down the host computer running the software every
day to avoid potential system performance degradation.
Please shut down the computer in accordance with this manual. Do not shut
down the computer power directly when the software is running normally.
Incorrect shutdown may cause data loss!
If the power supply of the host computer is likely to be suddenly cut off, please
use UPS. When the software is running, sudden power failure may result in
data loss!
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3 Worklist Management
3
Worklist
Management
This chapter focuses on various operations related to worklist. For example, create new patients and
studies locally, query and retrieve worklist from Hospital Information System or Radiological
Information System (HIS/RIS), import of a list of patient information from an Excel file for screening
examination purposes, etc.
In the navigation bar [PATIENT] screen, there are mainly three pages related to worklist. This chapter
describes each in detail.
NEW. Create a new study locally, create a new patient, and select protocols.
WORKLIST. Query and retrieve remote HIS/RIS scheduled worklist.
LOCAL. Manage local new studies, and ongoing or completed studies including remotely retrieved
studies.
A study has multiple states from its creation to completion that is indicated in the Status column of the
LOCAL worklist.
Scheduled Local new studies, or studies that have not yet started.
Local newly created studies or those retrieved from HIS/RIS that have
Suspended
started and exited but are not finished.
Completed locally created studies and those retrieved from HIS/RIS. This
Completed
also includes studies that completed partial exams but abandoned.
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In the PATIENT screen, you can create local patients and examination tasks. When you enter basic
patient information, you can use the Tab key to switch fields to fill in.
Please ensure that the patient name and patient ID are entered correctly. Incorrect input can result in
duplicate records for a patient, making it difficult to query the patient in the future.
NOTE: Fields marked with “*” are compulsory. If a required field is not filled in, the exam cannot
begin.
Selected Protocols
After the date of birth is filled in, the software automatically calculate and display the age; conversely,
after the patient's age can be entered, the software calculates the year of birth.
Then, specify the patient's body size, gender, and pregnancy status. It is very important to select the
patient's body size correctly, which will affect the selection of exposure parameters and thus affect
the image quality at the end.
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Possibly
Possibly pregnant but no proof female
Pregnant
Pregnancy
Status Definitely
Pregnant female
Pregnant
After filling in the patient information on the left side of the “NEW” patient screen, the next step is to
select protocols for exam. In the upper right of the protocol list, the default is often used protocols. By
clicking one body part of the virtual patient, protocols of the corresponding body part is listed for
selection. When an exam protocol is selected, it is added to the below selected protocol area.
The software supports selecting multiple studies of one patient at the same time to start examination.
One study has one accession number.
To save the being created study locally and continue to create another one, click the "Save to Local"
button, and the newly created examination information will be saved in the LOCAL study list. Its status
is scheduled.
To start the being created study, click the "EXAM" button in the navigation bar. This study will be
saved in the LOCAL study list after suspend or complete it.
If the software is connected to RIS/HIS system, in the "WORKLIST" page, click the “Refresh” button
to load scheduled studies from RIS/HIS system.
To obtain studies with some specific criteria from HIS/RIS system, input query criteria in the query
panel and then click the Query button. Then, select one from the queried results to start examination.
The connection between the host computer and the hospital network (including RIS/HIS/PACS/
printer, etc.) may be wired or wireless, or both. In the status bar at the bottom of the software screen,
relevant network status are indicated.
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NOTE: After obtaining worklist from HIS/RIS, if the network is interrupted intentionally or
unintentionally, the software will not refresh worklist anymore and will retain the latest refresh
results until the network is recovered.
When a scheduled study in WORKLIST is started, if some or all of required images of this study have
been acquired, these images will be saved in the local database, and this study can be seen in the
[LOCAL] study list.
For HIS/RIS studies, operators can do operations as described briefly in the following table.
When select one study in Worklist from HIS/RIS and then click this button, a
Work
window pops up and list all local emergency studies. Then select one local
Mapping
emergency study and it will be corrected with the selected study in Worklist.
Map the RIS code of one selected study from HIS/RIS to a local procedure.
This is a one-time operation and will take effect for studies with the same RIS
code in the future. When open a study of Worklist from HIS/RIS, if its RIS code
RIS Code
has not been mapped to a local procedure, the window of adding protocol will
Mapping
pop up; then operators can select the correct views. To permanently map this
procedure to a local procedure, click this button and a window pops up where
all local procedures are listed for selection.
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In the "PATIENT > LOCAL” screen, with the help of the query panel, operators can start one
scheduled study, resume one suspended study, or perform some other study management activities.
For all LOCAL studies, operators can edit, delete, and protect one or multiple studies. The following
table briefly describes related operations.
Any study has errors can be corrected, such as patient information error, or
Edit Study
protocol information error.
Delete one or multiple studies, which acquired images will also be deleted
Delete together.
Study If a study obtained from HIS/RIS is deleted, it may be retrieved again.
Refer to Chapter 6 “Image Management” for more descriptions.
To protect one or multiple studies from being deleted, especially for studies
Protect
containing acquired images. Refer to Chapter 6 “Image Management” for more
Study
descriptions.
If two patients' information or studies are confused, they can be easily corrected
Swap Image
by this function, including scheduled, suspended, and completed studies.
Operators can import patient information list in batches from Excel files. It is
Import Study
often used for screening.
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When the image quality of one study has problem and needs support of
Get Error image experts, select this study and then click this button. The problem image
Images and related log files will be exported as a zip file. Then send this zip file to an
image expert.
For a study that has not been completed, it can be selected again to start or resume examination.
For details, please refer to Chapter 4"Image Acquisition".
For completed studies, they can be exported, sent to PACS server, and shared to cloud etc. If an
image has been archived to a PACS node, in the thumbnail pane, this image thumbnail will be marked
with a green circle; otherwise, a red circle. Please refer to Chapter 6 “Image Management” for more.
After modifying the patient information on the left side, click the button "Save" and the relevant DICOM
header information of each image of this patient will be updated.
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If the examination protocol of two images are confused, please drag and drop one image thumbnail
onto the other. It will take effect immediately.
If the examination protocol of one image is wrong, please drag and drop this image thumbnail onto
the correct view picture (if not exist please create it first). It will take effect immediately.
NOTE: The editing operations for all patients and their examinations are only valid in the local
database. For the patients and examination information obtained from HIS/RIS, please notify
HIS/RIS to make corresponding modifications manually.
NOTE: All correction operations for patient information and study information will be recorded for
audition by this software.
When studies of two patients are confused, for example, it should be Murray’s turn to start
examination but Mary went to the x-ray room and started examination, images acquired need to be
swapped. This operation is also valid for a local study and a study obtained from HIS/RIS.
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Drag and drop operations with mouse are supported. Also, the software provides below buttons for
related operations.
Move Image Select an image of the left patient and click the button to move it to the right
to Right patient. This operation is equivalent to dragging this image from the left patient
Patient to the blank area of the right patient.
Move Image
to Left It is the opposite operation of “Move Image to Right Patient”.
Patient
Delete
Select a view and click the button to delete it. To add a protocol, click [+].
Protocol
Copy To copy a view, select it and click the button. To copy the view of an image,
Protocol select this image and click the button.
If rejected images of two patients are also confused, it should also be corrected.
NOTE: All modification operations for patients and their examinations are only valid in the local
database and will not change images that have been sent to PACS node. To update PACS nodes
for these local modification, please manually resend these images.
To start an emergency examination without the registration process, click the Emergency button.
Then software loads the EXAM window directly for technicians in order to acquire images of this
emergency patient.
After clicking Emergency button, the software will register an emergency patient automatically with
the name composed of prefix, current date and sequence number. The sequence number increases
1 by each patient.
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NOTE: The prefix of the emergency patient name, the default exam procedure and other factors
can be modified in the system settings. Please refer to “Emergency Settings” in Chapter 8.
After an emergency examination is completed, it will be saved in the “LOCAL” study list. Whenever
an emergency patient information is clarified, his/her identification information and examination
information should be corrected and completed with the study editing function.
Querying and sorting operations can be used when the worklist is too long and a specific study needs
to be looked up quickly. Studies can be queried by multiple query criteria in the query panel, which is
part of the operation panel in the "LOCAL" page and the "WORKLIST" page.
Support fuzzy query character "*", such as "George *". Here, "*"
may represent one or more words or letters.
After specifying the query condition, press the [Query] button, and the matching studies will be listed.
Click on one column heading in the study list, and the list will be reordered accordingly. It is either
ascending or descending alphabetically; by default, descending after odd number of clicking, while
ascending after even number of clicking.
For large throughput of patients, centralized and similar examinations, such as physical screening
examination, patient information is required to be input quickly. The software provide an Excel
template for this special application.
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Patients' information can be filled in the Excel template file in advance, and then imported into the
software. Then, the software automatically generates accession numbers for patients.
The following figure is an example of patient information template. An editable Excel template file,
"Import Template_en_v2.xls", is saved in the software installation directory. To modify this file, please
follow below rules:
If the barcode reader is connected with the software, the workflow efficiency will be improved.
Barcode reader is a second-class laser device. Its laser beams are emitted from
its scanning hole. To avoid being irradiated by the laser beam, do not look at
the scanning hole.
The content reading from the barcode is usually configured as the Patient ID or Accession Number.
This software can search this content in worklist. For example, if the barcode content is mapped to
the accession number, the software will find this content in the worklist and the corresponding study
will be selected for further operation.
When a barcode reader is used, the input focus is automatically placed on the configured text field of
Patient ID or Accession Number. If the input focus is elsewhere, put it to the configured text field with
the mouse.
When scanning the patient's barcode, if the hospital information system (HIS) or radiation information
system (RIS) is connected, the software will find the corresponding patient and examination
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information from the worklist based on the barcode input. If no HIS/RIS, the software will query local
database according to the barcode input.
After finding the corresponding study of this barcode, the software will automatically start its
examination. If the scanned barcode cannot be found, the corresponding information needs to be
added manually.
NOTE: For further and detailed information on the barcode reader usage, please refer to its
manufacturer's user manual.
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4 Image Acquisition
4
Image
Acquisition
This chapter describes the complete image acquisition process from preparations before acquisition
to image quality control. The software supports not only digital detectors, but also conventional
cassettes. The image acquisition screen is shown in the below figure. Its left side is the View/Image
Index pane, the middle area is the information area/image preview area, and the right side is the
operation panel. The top right of the screen is the exposure status area.
Index
Pane
Operation
Panel
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In the Index pane, operators can select any view for exposure; if no selection, the exposure order will
start from the top view to the bottom one.
The software supports several workstations, each of which corresponds to a detector or Bucky. In a
specific system, depending on the hardware configuration, different combinations of these
workstations can be supported, up to three digital acquisition modes (i.e., non-conventional mode).
The digital detector can be placed on the table surface or placed freely in any
Free Mode
position, making it easy to acquire images for special views.
In general, the default settings of exposure factors are enough. Operators can also manually adjust
them as needed. Exposure conditions are closely related to the patient's body size. By choosing
different body sizes, the pre-defined exposure conditions can be switched quickly. Then, according
to the patient's specific conditions, do some fine-tuning. The figure below illustrates the relationship
between patient's body size and exposure factors.
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The tube voltage determines the quality of X-rays, reflecting the ability of X-rays
to penetrate objects, primarily affecting the contrast of raw images and also
affecting the brightness of raw images. The higher the tube voltage, the wider
Tube the gray level of the acquired image.
kV
Voltage Click on [+]/[-] in the display area of the kV to change the value of tube voltage.
If the maximum or minimum value is reached, the tube voltage will not change.
The range of tube voltage varies with the type of high voltage generator.
Empirical formula: mAs × 2 ≈ kV × 115%
Tube
mA It is the tube exposure current. It influences the brightness of raw images.
Current
The exposure time can be adjusted manually only when the time mode is
selected.
The time mode is usually used in cases where there are special requirements
Exposure for exposure time. For example, chest radiography requires short exposure time
mS
Time to reduce motion artifacts.
In the time mode, the mAs value cannot be adjusted manually, but it will be
changed by adjusting mA and mS values respectively.
Note: the minimum exposure time is 50 mS for some dynamic girds.
It is the product of exposure current and exposure time. It affects the brightness
of raw images.
Current
Only when the mAs mode is selected, it can be adjusted manually.
mAs Time
Product In mAs mode, the values of mA and mS cannot be adjusted. When changing
the mAs value, the generator will automatically select the corresponding mA
and mS values. At this time, the exposure time may be less than 50 ms.
In AEC mode, it is used to adjust the x-ray density, which influences the brightness
Density Density
of raw images.
When manually adjusting the exposure parameters, clicking on the [+] button can increase the value;
conversely, clicking on [-] can reduce the value; holding down can make the value change quickly
until it is released.
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The focal spot selection is related to the exposure current and the exposure time. It affects the
sharpness of object edge in image.
NOTE: The exposure current (mA) of tube is normally limited by its focal spot sizes. The focus
can be automatically switched depending on the current level for some tubes.
Automatic exposure control (AEC) acquisition mode is different from manual acquisition mode (mAs
mode and time mode). The exposure time is automatically truncated by monitoring whether the X-ray
dose received by the ionization chamber reaches the preset radiation dose. AEC can automatically
compensate for the differences caused by the thickness, density and technical parameters (such as
mA, kVp and SID) for different body parts, and finally produce best images with uniform quality.
Click on the “AEC” button to select the automatic exposure control mode; then, click on different ion
chamber symbols to use any combination of them. Whether to use AEC or not depends on the
exposed body part. Usually, the software's protocol has default settings for each view, and thus it
needs to be changed only in some special cases, for example, one side of the patient's lung is cut off.
Right Ion The left and right ion chambers should be selected to expose symmetrical
Chamber body parts, such as lungs or kidneys.
The middle ion chamber is located at the center of the X-ray field of view.
Middle Ion Therefore, the exposed body part should be located in the center of the X-ray
Chamber field of vision. For small body parts as neck, only the middle ion chamber
should be selected.
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Left Ion The left and right ion chambers should be selected to expose symmetrical
Chamber body parts, such as lungs or kidneys.
It is very important to positioning patients correctly. For example, when an arm is exposed, if it cannot
cover the selected ion chamber, it will result in an early end of the exposure and thus cause insufficient
exposure.
NOTE: In AEC mode, the exposed body part should cover selected ion chambers. If the FOV
cannot cover selected ion chambers due to hardware limitation, please choose manual exposure
mode.
The sensitivity of AEC can be changed by adjusting the optical density. The range of optical density
is related to the high voltage generator. Default density (0) is set for normal contrast and density
requirement. For patients with large muscles, increase density appropriately; conversely, for patients
with small muscles, reduce density appropriately. If an image shows obvious particle noise, the
density can be increased. If an image is too black or too bright, adjust the LUT curve instead of the
density value.
The exposure time and mAs in AEC mode are not adjustable. After exposure, the real exposure time
and mAs value will be automatically displayed. The backup time of AEC may be displayed in the time
field according to different generators. If the maximum exposure time of tube is reached, it could lead
to inadequate exposure; and thus please increase mA to avoid this case.
NOTE: The AEC is related to the high voltage generator. If there are frequent errors of AEC, or if
the AEC backup time is reached frequently, it indicates the system may have some problem.
Please contact service engineers of the system vendor.
Some other technical preparations maybe needed based on different hardware configurations. For
example, it may be necessary to select a proper copper filter according to different anatomies. In
addition, pay attention to the following technical conditions.
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Patients should also take some preparations before exposure. First of all, ensure the current patient
information and examination information are correct. Secondly, patients should take off unnecessary
clothing and jewelries, which may impact image quality, to avoid re-exposures. Thirdly, patients
should take necessary X-ray protection. Finally, guide patients to take the correct positioning. In
addition, patients should adopt the appropriate breathing mode to cooperate with the acquisition.
If no proper protective measures are taken for patients, the X-ray system
could do harm to them.
NOTE: If there are errors in patient information or examination information, please correct them
in PATIENT > LOCAL screen.
Once the acquisition conditions are ready, press the hand switch to shot X-ray. Usually, after pressing
the 1st-level switch, each imaging component starts to prepare. After holding the 1st-level switch for a
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little stay, i.e., 1-2 seconds, the 2nd-level switch is pressed and hold for about 1-4 seconds. Generally,
the generator itself will give a "beep" sound to indicate exposure. Then, release the switch after a
short stay. Finally, the preview image will display and then the full size image in a few seconds.
In the EXAM screen, the software displays the states of the hand switch, the high voltage generator
and the digital detector as described in the below table.
X-ray
Switch Released The hand switch is in the released state.
Warming
Tube is warming up.
up
Generator is idle and will enter the preparation stage after pressing
Idle
down the 1-st level switch.
X-ray The tube is emitting x-rays after the 2nd-level switch is pressed
Generator Busy
down, while it means initializing if the switch is not pressed down.
Unit
Inhibit
X-ray exposure is not allowed.
Exposure
Flat Panel
FPD is busy (including preparing, acquiring image, transferring
Detector Busy
image etc.) It takes about several seconds.
(FPD)
There are many reasons of inhibiting the generator exposure. For example,
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If an error occurs during exposure, the system status symbol on the status bar will prompt a warning
or error message, which will disappear in seconds.
When the generator has some errors and cannot be self-corrected, please
Reset
click the reset button. If it still cannot restore to the normal status after reset,
Generator
please restart it manually.
NOTE: In the EXAM screen, some model of detectors may enter the "sleeping" mode after a
certain period of time to save energy according to different configurations. Most of them are
battery-driven portable detectors. It normally takes about several seconds to “wake up” a detector
to the working state.
When an image is being uploaded from the detector to the host running the software, if the network
suddenly disconnected, it will be indicated in the corresponding detector network symbol on the status
bar, and an error message box will be prompted. Please recover the network failure as soon as
possible. When the network is restored, its symbol on the status bar will become normal. At this time,
the software will re-upload this image.
When failed to upload the acquired image from the detector due to the
network problem, please do not restart the detector to avoid the loss of
image.
When failed to upload the acquired image from the detector due to the
network problem, please do not restart the software, and do not exit the
current exam, to avoid the failure of restoring the current image.
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The exposure dose will affect the image quality. Reasonable exposure dose will get the best image
quality. Overexposure or underexposure will result in loss of image quality; if the degree of
overexposure or underexposure is serious, it will affect the diagnosis and need re-exposure, thus
increasing the patient's radiation dose.
EXI is the abbreviation of Exposure Index, which reflects the exposure dose. It represents the dose
level that reaches the detector surface after passing through the object in the irradiated area. The
larger it is, the higher the incident dose to the detector surface after passing through the object in the
irradiated area.
Exposure index includes relative EXI and standard EXI, which have a definite conversion coefficient.
Relative EXI is the calculation of the average gray level of the exposed part on the image. Standard
EXI is also called EXI as short. The DI (Deviation Index) reflects the deviation level between the
standard EXI of the current image and the expected target EXI.
EXI values are stored in the header of DICOM image and can be seen in the four corners of the image.
Image acquisition technicians can judge whether the exposure dose is appropriate according to EXI,
DI and Relative EXI in the information displayed in the four corners of the image.
Relative EXI is related with the detector A/D. At present, there are mainly 14-bit and 16-bit digital
detectors on the market. The table below gives the general reference range of relative EXI for different
body parts.
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When the relative EXI is too large, patients has absorbed more doses. When it is too low, image noise
is more serious, and even influence clinical diagnosis. Therefore, X-ray examination should follow the
principle of "as low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA), to ensure that the diagnosis is not affected,
as far as possible to reduce the radiation dose of all patients, especially children and small patients.
In order to balance the image quality and the patient's absorbed dose, the following factors should be
carefully considered before each exposure:
Field of Vision (FOV) is very important for specific anatomical areas. If FOV is too large, it will
bring more soft x-rays and thus cause the image become foggy and difficult for diagnosis.
Moreover, because of the poor penetrability of soft x-rays, patients will absorb more doses.
Therefore, careful consideration should be given to the anatomical area covered by the
collimation.
Make sure the patient, primarily the body part being exposed, is positioned correctly in the x-
ray beam center especially when using the automatic exposure control (AEC). If the exposed
body part dose not properly cover ion chambers, the actual dose maybe larger than or less
than the required dose, and thus leading to overexposure or re-exposure.
Try to use pediatric assisted positioning devices. These devices are often helpful for certain
patients and examinations by reducing patient movement that might lead to repeated
exposures.
If the image quality is too low to satisfy clinical diagnosis because of various reasons, for example,
the patient moved during the exposure process and thus resulting in unclear image, operators can
click the "Reject" button and select a rejection reason. Operators can choose the main reason for
rejection or enter a reason in the custom textbox. If reject an image in the “EXAM” screen, the view
of the rejected image will be automatically copied. By default all images are auto accepted after
acquisition.
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If the current image is accepted, click the Reject button to reject it. When
an image is rejected, a symbol "X" will be added on its thumbnail in the
image index. Rejected images will still be saved in the local database, and
Reject Image
can be re-accepted for other further operations as re-process, send and
/Delete View
export etc.
If the current one is not an image but a view, click this button to delete it
from the image index.
For a rejected image, click the Accept button to accept it again if its
Accept Image quality is satisfactory. In the image index, there will be a symbol "√" on
each accepted image.
If you have doubts about the quality of an image and want the support of
Export the manufacturer, you can export the problem image. In the local worklist,
Problem select the study and click the export problem image button. Send the
Image exported problem image to relevant technical support through other
ways.
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5 Image Manipulation
5
Image
Manipulations
This chapter focuses on various image manipulations including topics as basic and advanced image
processing, image measurements and annotations, and image crop and mask etc. Two methods are
normally used to start image manipulations, one is after image acquisition in an ongoing exam; the
other is selecting a completed study and then click “VIEW” in the navigation bar, or double-clicking a
completed study directly. The following picture is an Image Viewer screen copy.
Image Manipulation
and Preview Area
Image
Index
Operation
Panel
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The left pane is the image thumbnail list, the middle area is the image preview pane, and the right
pane next to the navigation bar is the operation panel. In the operation panel, users can customize
the tool list by hiding/showing some tools in SYSTEM > Preferences. In this chapter, all manipulation
tools will be described.
There are also 4 sub-panels in the operation panel, which are described in the following table.
Clicking this button will open the image processing sub-panel, where several
Image
predefined image processing styles are provided for user’s selection, and
Processing
advanced image processing tools are also available for image processing
Sub-Panel
experts.
Crop & Mask Clicking this button will open the image cropping and masking sub-panel, where
Sub-Panel some often used film sizes are also listed for quick cropping.
Annotation Clicking this button will open the image annotation sub-panel, where L/R mark
Sub-Panel and often used text annotations are ready for easily adding an annotations.
Measurement
Clicking this button will open the image measurement sub-panel.
Sub-Panel
For any image, its window level and window width could be adjusted with a mouse. After pressing the
right mouse button, move the mouse in the image display area, slide up and down to change the
window width, and slide left and right to change the window level. In addition, the software also defines
the following general operation buttons.
Resetting the mouse cursor. Change the mouse cursor to Arrow. The state of
Reset the mouse will be changed by some operations, such as magnifying glass,
Cursor zooming operation, roaming operation, etc. To restore the mouse's normal
state (arrow), click the button. The shortcut is the ESC key.
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After a series of operations are applied on the current image, such as zooming,
panning, flipping, rotation, and inverting. To cancel all the changes to the image
Reset Image
and restore it to how it was when it was loaded in the VIEWER window, please
click the Reset Image button.
There are 4 layouts are ready for selection. Click the corresponding button to select an image layout.
1×1 Layout Only one image will be displayed in the preview pane.
There are 3 buttons for quickly selecting and unselecting images in the grid layout.
Select All Click this button and all images in the grid layout will be selected.
To select several discontinuous images, hold down the Ctrl key of the keyboard when selecting
them; click on the selected image again, that is, cancel the selection of the image.
All images selected will be marked with a small box. There can only be one active image with a dashed
border.
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With regard to the direction of image viewing, the software provides the following five ways to rotate
and flip images.
Horizontal
The image can be horizontally mirrored by clicking the Horizontal Flip button.
Flip
Vertical Flip The image can be vertically mirrored by clicking the Vertical Flip button.
Anti-
Clockwise The image can be rotated 90°anti-clockwise as required.
Rotation
Clockwise
The image can be rotated 90°clockwise as required.
Rotation
After clicking the button, you can rotate the image at any angle with the mouse.
Free
Press the left mouse button at a certain position of image, then drag and rotate,
Rotation
release the mouse and finish the rotation operation.
An image can be enlarged to view an area which is of special interesting. There are multiple tools could
be used for image displaying ratio related operations.
Fit-to-
Click Fit-to-Window button to display the current selected image in the full size
Window
mode.
Display
Click the 1:1 button, the image can be viewed in the Pixel to Pixel mode. One
Pixel-to- monitor pixel is on behalf of one image pixel. To view the interested area of an
Pixel image, if this area is in the outside of the display area, hold the left mouse key and
Display move mouse to a desired direction. In the pixel-to-pixel mode, it is easier to view
more details of an image.
True Size After clicking the True Size Display button, the image will be zoomed to its true
Display size.
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Click the Zoom button, then press and drag the left mouse button up or down on
an image to zoom in or zoom out it. Dragging up increases the image zooms while
Zoom
dragging down decreases it. Click the arrow button in the operation panel to
restore the mouse status.
When you zoom in image, it may become larger than the image area. Panning
(moving the image within the image area) then becomes important. Click the Pan
Pan
button, then click and drag the left mouse button within the image area to move
the image. Release the mouse button to drop the image in its new position.
Press the Magnifier button and then click on the interested region which you want
Magnifier
to magnify, the magnifying window will appear on the interested region.
The brightness and contrast of image can be adjusted by the right mouse button. After pressing the
right mouse button, move the mouse on the current image in the displaying area to adjust its WW/L.
Slide up and down to change the window width, while slide left and right to change the window level.
At the same time, the information of window width and window level can also be updated dynamically
at the 4-courner of the current image in the displaying area.
The following figure is an example of image contrast. The contrast of the left image is larger than that
of the right one.
In addition, the software also provides the following tools to observe the image more easily.
Increase
Click on the button, and the image brightness increases.
Brightness
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Decrease
Click this button to decrease the brightness of the Image.
Brightness
Increase
To increase the image contrast. The image latitude will be decreased.
Contrast
Decrease
To decrease the image contrast. The image latitude will be increased.
Contrast
Auto When the Auto Windowing button is clicked, the image will automatically adjust
Windowing its window width and window level.
After the button is clicked, use the mouse to select a Region of Interest (ROI)
ROI
on the image, then its window width and window level are applied to the whole
Windowing
image.
When the mouse is in this status, moving the mouse horizontally can adjust the
image contrast (WW). Moving leftward can decrease WW value, while moving
rightward can increase WW value. The smaller the WW value, the sharper the
Manual image is. Similarly, moving the mouse vertically can adjust the brightness (WL).
Windowing Moving upward can increase WL value, while moving downward can decrease
WL value. The larger the WL value, the brighter the image. This tool is useful
for touch-screen operation because an user can use his/her finger to adjust
WW/L.
To display the current selected in its inverse statue, click the Invert button.
Invert
Click this button again to revoke the last invert operation.
If necessary, users can crop or use a mask to select a part of the image to save or print. After acquiring
an image, its original size and shutter information are saved locally. Images can be manually cropped
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again, and cropped images can be sent to printers or image archiving servers. The software provides
the following tools for image cropping and masking.
Crop and Click this button to enter the crop and mask sub-panel, which also includes a
Maks Panel variety of common film sizes for easy image cropping
When you crop a rectangle in an image, you can adjust the size and position of
the area you want to crop. If the trimming box is not displayed, click this button,
and the rectangle enclosed by the four lines will appear on the image, and the
corresponding content is the clipped image. When the mouse moves to a line,
the mouse changes to a horizontal or vertical arrow shape, then press the left
Ranctangualr
mouse button and move to drag the crop line to the appropriate position. When
Cropping
you move the mouse over the four corners of the trimming frame, the mouse
changes to a diagonal arrow shape, and then press the left mouse button and
move to drag the two lines that make up the corner. When the mouse is placed
inside the trimming box, the mouse becomes the shape of the hand, and then
the left mouse button is pressed and moved to drag the entire trimming frame.
Cancel When the button is clicked, the cropping frame is removed and the cropping
Cropping operation is cancelled.
Polygon After clicking this button, use the mouse to draw an arbitrary polygon mask. The
Masking area outside the shutter is not visible.
Cancel
Click this button to cancel the result of the shutter.
Masking
The window width and level of an image are automatically adjusted to the best
viewing state based on the relative EXI value, which is based on the cropping
Recaculate content. When the value of EXI is greatly changed due to manual cropping, the
EXI brightness and contrast of the image may affect viewing the image. At this
point, you can manually recalculate EXI. After clicking this button, draw the
cropping area to calculate EXI on the image.
When annotations or measurements are outside of the cropping or masking area, they will also be
cut off. To re-crop an image which display size is smaller than the expected cropping size, please
zoom it out first by clicking the Zoom button.
The software provides 5 common image post-processing styles and one user-defined image post-
processing style. An operator can choose one appropriate style according to the doctor’s preference
or the actual clinical diagnosis needs, and obtain different image post-processing effects. The
following table gives a brief description of each style.
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Style Description
The default style of the factory. It tends to balance the density contrast and detail
1 Balanced enhancement of each tissue in the image to obtain a more balanced display of each
tissue.
High The density contrast between different tissues is improved, and the degree of detail
2
Contrast enhancement is appropriately enhanced to better highlight tissue information.
It tends to reduce the contrast between tissues with different thickness and X-ray
attenuation, and to highlight the soft tissue display. At this time, the density contrast
3 Soft between skeleton and soft tissue is weakened, and the tissues with different thickness
and X-ray attenuation can be displayed together. All tissues can be observed without
adjusting the window width and window level.
It tends to highlight bone tissue information. It is in order to improve tissue contrast and
4 Hard detail enhancement, so as to show the whole bone tissue and fine texture more clearly
and prominently.
It tends to weaken the contrast of tissue density and the enhancement of detail to
simulate the effect of CR or conventional film. It is worth noting that although the image
LUT
5 style processed by this style is close to CR or film effect, advanced post-processing is
still used here. If advanced image post-processing is strictly prohibited in some specific
scenarios, please turn off the advanced post-image processing.
Users can customize a set of image post-processing parameters according to their
6 Customized
actual requirements.
Usually, the balanced style can achieve a better display effect. To meet special requirements or for a
particular patient, users may need to choose a different post-processing style. The following is screen
shots of the image processing sub-panel and the advanced adjustment sub-panel.
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Using the histogram curve, the brightness and contrast of images can be adjusted, and the
organizational structure in a specific gray scale can be easily observed. Window Width is the width of
the curve (the gray range mapped). Window Level is the gray value corresponding to the center point
of the curve. Drag the square handle on the curve until the image is satisfactory: Drag the top square
handle to change the maximum density of the image, drag the bottom one to change the minimum
density of the image, and drag the middle one to change the center of the curve. At the same time,
the image in the image area updates with the modified curve in real time.
When adjusted with the right mouse button, moving the mouse in the image display area will also
change the curve, sliding up and down to change the window level of the curve, sliding left and right
to change the window width of the curve, and the curve will be updated at the same time.
If the default style cannot meet clinical needs, operators can click on the [Advanced] button to open
the Advanced Adjustment panel and adjust parameters to meet their own needs. Symphony
integrates a variety of advanced image processing functions, and provides an optimized combination
of parameters for different examinations to improve the quality of image diagnosis. Symphony
processing mainly includes the following four parameters.
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Factor Description
It can improve the density contrast between different tissues in the image. If the
settings are too large, the too thick parts in the image will be too bright, while thinner
parts will be too dark. Excessively amplifying an image will cause its details to be over-
amplified, and thus mislead clinicians. For example, for Chest PA/AP, a smaller
Amplifier/ amplifier value is preferred because excessive enhancement of the lung texture is
1
Gain likely to cause a misdiagnosis similar to the thickening of the lung texture; for skull and
extremities, a smaller amplifier value is also preferred because the over-enhancement
of the trabecular bone is easily misdiagnosed as osteoporosis; while for the lumber
lateral view, its thickness is larger than other parts and thus larger amplifier value is
preferred. The weaker enhancement is similar to traditional film.
Used to control the clarity of the display of various structures. The larger the dynamic
range, the more structures are clearly displayed. By increasing this parameter, the
dynamic range of image can be enlarged, so that tissues with different thickness can
Latitude/
be displayed at the same window width and window level at the same time. Observers
2 Dynamic
can observe more information at the same time. For example, Chest PA/AP, its
Range
thickness is almost constant, i.e., no very thick parts while no very thin parts, and thus
its factor value is relative smaller; while for the lumber, a larger value is preferred;
otherwise, the information of the sacrum part is not enough.
Used to adjust the level of detail of images. The bigger the value, the sharper the
image, and the clearer the details, but the stronger the noise. It is more conducive to
Detail displaying small texture and density changes in the image. However, while enhancing
3
Enhancement the details, the noise granularity of image will also increase. Operators should take
into account the level of image noise while enhancing details. It is not recommended
to enhance details too much.
This parameter can get better noise reduction effect. The bigger the parameter is, the
greater the suppression of image noise and the smoother the image effect is. But at
the same time, it also weakens the image detail display. Operators need to take into
Noise
4 account the level of detail display while suppressing noise. It is not recommended to
Suppression
increase the parameter excessively. For the lumber lateral view, its thickness is larger
than other body parts and thus often has larger noises; therefore, a larger noise
suppression is normally required.
To achieve a natural effect, a smaller gain and a smaller dynamic range are preferred; otherwise, for
enhanced effects, a larger gain and a larger dynamic range are preferred.
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Noise and detail are a contradictory unity. Excessive noise reduction will also result in loss of detail;
on the contrary, excessive detail enhancement will lead to greater noises.
Figure 5-6: Excessive Noise Reduction (Left) vs. Excessive Detail Enhancement (Right)
Different types of histogram curves have different effects. The often used one is sigmoid curve.
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1 2
The software provides some common measurement tools described in the below table. For some
measurements, the length calibration is required before measurements.
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Click the button and enter the measurement panel, which includes not only
Measurement
some common measuring tools, but also many drawing tools to identify
Panel
regions of interest.
To measure the angle between two lines. Firstly, select a point as the vertex, and
then select two points separately to create two crossing lines with the 1st point as
Angle
the crossing point. When moving anyone of these 3 points, the measurement
Measurement
result will be updated accordingly at the same time. The measurement result
texts can also be moved.
Delete
Click on a measurement or drawing result to select it, and then click the
Measurement
button to delete it. It is equivalent to the Del key on keyboard.
Result
You can also add “L”/ “R” marker and comment text to an image and display them on the image. Each
mark/comment can only be added once on an image. This mark and comments will be sent or printed
with the image.
The added L/R marker and comments can be dragged and dropped anywhere within the image with
the mouse. Annotations cannot be dragged outside of the image's cropping box or the display area.
In addition to selecting system-predefined text annotations, users can add custom texts online. The
user's customized text, if used frequently, can also be saved to the system for easy addition later.
Annotation Click this button to go to the Add Comment sub-panel, which contains predefined
Panel L/R markers, as well as various common comments.
By clicking this button, the L marker can be added to the image, and its position
Left Marker
on the image can be changed by dragging the marker.
Right By clicking this button, the R marker can be added to the image, and its position
Marker on the image can be changed by dragging the marker.
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To delete a marker or comment on the image, select it with mouse and then click
Delete
the [Del] key on the keyboard. Click this button and all added annotations on the
Annotations
image will be deleted.
On each image, its four corners show the patient's basic information, exposure dose, image
parameters and other related information. The content and location of 4-corner information can be
configured. The software also provides some other tools as listed in the below table.
Reference The reference grid lines can be displayed as dashed lines on an image. Click
Grid Lines the button again to hide the reference grid lines.
DICOM To check the DICOM header information of the current active image, click the
Header DICOM Header Information button. To search a DICOM tag in the DICOM
Information header information window, click ‘Ctrl+F’ to start searching.
Display the radiation dose structured report (RDSR) of the current study. It is
RDSR
also a DICOM format image and can be sent or printed.
Show 4-
Displays the four-corner inforamtion on images. Click to change to the "Hide
Corner
Four Corners Info" button.
Information
Hide 4-
Hide the 4-corner information on images. Click and change to the "Show Four
Corner
Corner Information" button.
Information
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6 Image Management
6
Image
Management
This chapter mainly talks about the management of images. It includes the management of local
images, such as export, archiving, and printing operations; how to protect the patient-related images
from being automatically deleted by the system, local disk space management, etc. In addition, when
viewing images, you can select some images of one study and send them to the designated DICOM
node or different nodes.
The software provides the following main ways to send, export, and import image to meet different
clinical usage scenarios. This chapter will provide detailed instructions on the main ways in which
they are used.
In the grid viewing mode, to select multiple images for export, click this
button and then select the image one by one. To deselect an image, click
Multiple Select
it again. In the lower right corner of each selected image, there is a small
square to indicate this selection.
In the grid viewing mode, click this button to select all images in the current
Select All
study for export. There is a small solid square in the lower right corner of
Images
the selected image.
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Unselected All Unselected all images, either for all selection or multiple selection
Images operation.
Users can select one or multiple DICOM images and send them to one or
more specified archive nodes.
If an image has been archived to a PACS node, in the local worklist
Send Image screen > the thumbnail pane, this image thumbnail will be marked with a
green circle; otherwise, a red circle.
After clicking the Send button, all selected images will be put in the
sending queue and handled at background by PPACS services.
The selected image(s) can be exported from the database to an external
directory or USB disk which is not manageable by the software. It can be
Export Image
DICOM format or computer compatible format, such as BMP, JPG, TIFF,
etc.
The selected image(s) can be recorded onto DVD/CD disks. It can be a
Burn Image patient's image for the patient's own archive, or it can be an image of
multiple patients for the purpose of hospital backup.
The selected image(s) can be uploaded to dedicated cloud space for
Share Image sharing. This is an optional advanced function. It is not included in this
chapter.
For completed studies the LOCAL page, you can select images of one study or multiple studies to
archive, export, print, share, burn to DVDs etc. External images can also be imported.
To select all images of multiple discontinuous studies, press the CTRL key of the keyboard when
selecting them. To unselect a study, click this selected study again.
To select multiple consecutive studies, select the first study, hold down the SHIFT key on the
keyboard and click on the last study. Then, all images of studies in the middle will be selected.
In the image viewer screen, you can also initiate an image export operation. The difference is that not
all images but selective images of one study can be selected for archiving, exporting, recording, cloud
sharing and so on.
To select several discontinuous images of one study, hold down the CTRL key of the keyboard when
you select them. To unselect an image, click this selected image again.
NOTE: All un-rejected images of a study could be automatically sent to the predefined default
archive node, if configured, whenever this study is finished.
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NOTE: When performing the image export operation, according to the purpose of the export,
decide whether to carry out "anonymization" processing in export options, so as to protect the
patient's personal information.
The software offers a flexible and versatile film composer for printing image on film or paper. It supply
us with what you see is what you get (WYSWYG). Users can select a predefined layout or design a
new layout. Printing jobs are executed at background and thus users can continue to use the software.
To open the film composer, normally, there are 3 cases:
NOTE: Images of multiple studies and of different patients could be loaded into the image index
for printing. Also, they could be printed on one film.
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In the film composer as shown in the above figure, the left pane of image thumbnail list is the image
index, the middle area is the current film sheet, and the right pane next to the navigation bar is the
operation panel.
Users could create multiple virtual film sheets and each is represented by a film tab in the top of
sheets. With these film tabs, users can easily page through from one film sheet to another.
In the image list pane, image thumbnails of the current study are listed. When the image index pane
cannot display all image thumbnails, users could use the up-down scroll bar in this pane or the scroll
button of a mouse. Users could drag one image from the image index into one viewpoint of the current
film sheet.
With the film composer, a normal print workflow roughly includes following steps:
Step 1: New films
Step 2: Designing the layout of films
Step 3: Manipulating images in the layout
Step 4: Add annotations to images
Step 5: Select a printer and print films
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A new (empty) film sheet will be appended to the end of the film sheet list
Add Film Sheet
and it will become the current active one. Its layout will reuse the last one.
Click the Delete Film button to delete current film sheet from the film sheet
Delete Film
list. When there is only one film sheet in the list, this operation will only empty
Sheet
this film sheet and keep its layout design.
The orientation of the current film sheet can be switched between portrait
and landscape.
Portrait /
Landscape
Portrait Landscape
If the film size of the current film sheet need to be changed, please select the expected film size
from the film size dropdown list in the operation panel.
By setting the layout of the film sheet, users can define how many images per film sheet. The software
not only predefines some often used film layouts, but also provides free layout design tools. The film
layout design related tools are described in the below table.
Define Film
Layout
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Click the left mouse button again; the selected layout will apply to all sheets of
current job. If the cursor is moved outside the layout window, it will disappear
and the layout of all sheets will keep unchanged.
Select
The software predefined some layouts. To select one, click this button and
Predefined
all predefined layouts will be listed for selection.
Layout
To divide one cell to 1-16 smaller ones, click the Add Child Layout button. A
Add Child
child cell can also be divided again. With this function, a special layout could
Layout
be designed according to user’s requirements.
Delete Child
To delete all child layouts, click the Delete Child Layout button.
Layout
When some film sheets contain empty viewports, users could reorganize
Repack Images images within sheets to make better use of the film material. Click the repack
image button to repack all sheets, empty sheets are removed if necessary.
After clicking the Move Image button, the left button of mouse will change its
Move Image function for moving an image. Then, users can drag and drop one image
among different viewpoints of the current sheet.
To remove an image from the current sheet, select this image and
then click the Delete Image button.
Delete Image The Del key on the keyboard is the same as this button.
To delete multiple images, use the Ctrl key when selecting
images.
After the layout of films is designed, the WYSIWYG editing of images can be carried out.
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To print an image in the full size mode, select this image and then click the
Full Size Full Size button. When multiple images are selected, they all will be printed
in the full size mode.
To print an image in the true size mode, select this image and then click
True Size the True Size button. When multiple images are selected, they all will be
printed in the true size mode.
After clicking the Zooming button, the left button of mouse will change its
function for zooming images. Then, press and drag the left mouse button up
Zooming or down to zoom in or zoom out an image. Dragging up increases the image
zooms while dragging down decreases it. When multiple images are
selected, they could be zoomed together with the same manner.
When zooming in an image, which may become larger than the viewing
area, panning (moving the image within the viewing area) becomes
necessary. After clicking the Panning button, drag some part of an image
Panning
and move it, then release the mouse button to drop the image in its new
position. When multiple images are selected, they could be panning together
with the same manner.
Click the Same Zoom Ratio button, then all images in the current sheet will
Same Zoom be magnified to same factor as the current focus. For example, when a left
Ratio leg image and a right leg image will be printed in the same sheet but exposed
separately, this tool is helpful.
Images can be mirrored vertically by clicking the Vertical Flip button. When
Vertical Flip
multiple images are selected, they could be flipped vertically together.
Rotate Image An image can be rotated 90° anti-clockwise by clicking this button. When
Anti-Clockwise multiple images are selected, they could be rotated anti-clockwise together.
Rotate Image An image can be rotated 90°clockwise by clicking this button. When multiple
Clockwise images are selected, they could be rotated clockwise together.
To invert an image, select this image and then click the Invert Image button.
Invert Image When multiple images are selected, they could be inverted clockwise
together.
To select multiple images in the layout for manipulating, press the Ctrl key of the keyboard when
selecting.
In the film composer, the contrast and brightness of images could also be adjusted before printing
and only for printing. To adjust WW/L of an image, hold the mouse right button on an image and then
move upside/downside or leftward/rightward as in the image Viewer. When multiple images are
selected, their WW/L could be adjusted together.
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As the last step in film composing, you can add annotations to image. The related operations are
described in the table below.
To show annotations on the current film, click the Show Annotation button.
Show
Note: the 4-corner label can be shown on film is predefined according to
Annotation
user’s preference.
To hide annotations on the current film, click the Hide Annotation button.
Hide Annotation
All 4-corner labels and manually added text annotations will be hidden.
To add a text annotation on film, click the Add Text button and then select a
predefined text(s) or input free texts. To move its location on film, please
Add Text
select it and then drag & drop to a new location on film.
Note: all text annotations added here are just for printing only.
Delete Text To delete a text annotation on film, select it and click the Delete Text button.
NOTE: The L/R mark is always printed out on film. Only annotation can be hidden.
6.2.5 Printing
After film editing, DICOM printing or ordinary printing can be carried out. Send edited films to the
selected printer and finish printing. Refer to the table below for related operations.
Click the DICOM Print button, then all designed virtual films will be transmitted
DICOM Print to the selected DICOM printer node. The real film size is the same as that of
the designed virtual film.
Click the Windows Print button, then all designed virtual films will be
Windows Print
transmitted to the selected normal printer node, which is paper-oriented.
When multiple DICOM printers are connected, users can select a printer in the DICOM printer list.
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All DICOM print jobs are executed at background and managed by PPACS print service. Thus, during
printing films, users can continue other operations.
After selected images are started to be sent (archived or printed), all sending jobs are executed in the
background, and the user can continue to perform other operations. In the background, the PPACS
services can establish a connection with the remote image archive server or DICOM printer, and then
start to transmit images in the sending queue one by one.
When a remote DICOM node is not online or the network is failure, after attempting to send an image
multiple times unsuccessfully, this sending job will fail. The sent image is left in the sending queue
and can be sent again when the network is restored or the DICOM node is online. The sending states
include the following ones:
SENDING. One connection for this job is being established with a remote DICOM node, or it is
being sent. The job being sent cannot be deleted.
COMPLETED. This image has been successfully sent to the specified DICOM node.
FAILED. This image was not successfully sent to the specified DICOM node. Check the network
status or whether the remote DICOM node is configured correctly.
In PATIENT > QUEUE page, users can check status of all send/print jobs within a specified date range
as shown in the below figure.
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For jobs in sending queues, users can delete a job or manually send a failed job.
Deletes selected jobs in queue. The Ctrl key and Shift key can be used
Delete Job
for multiple selections.
Resend Job Manually send an image again, primarily for failed jobs.
If the file format of exported images is the computer-compatible format as BMP, TIFF, or JPEG,
images can be viewed in any image viewer. If the file format is DICOM, any 3rd-party DICOM image
viewer can be used.
To view exported DICOM images, the "Mini Viewer" application exported with images together can
also be used. This is an unlicensed Windows operating system-based portable DICOM image viewing
application.
The MiniViewer supports the DCOM directory structure (DCOM DIR) and also contains some basic
viewing and measuring tools.
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As an image acquisition software, the image storage space of the host running the software is typically
smaller than a dedicated image storage server. To check the free disk space of the local image
storage, you can move the mouse on the disk space symbol in the status bar at any time. Depending
on the size of free disk space, administrators can manually export or delete some images.
Depending on the system configuration, when the available storage space drops to a predetermined
value, patient's examinations and their images will be deleted according to the first-in-first-out principle;
earliest images may be automatically deleted to release storage space for new images. When this
software starts to clean up disk space depends on the settings. Administrators can set a threshold for
local disk space. When the disk space of the image storage directory is lower than the critical value,
the software starts to clean up the disk space. It is recommended that the threshold be set to the
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maximum image taken in one day for all patients. For example, the maximum number of patients in a
day is 100. Each patient acquires two images on average. Assuming the size of each image is 16M
according to the type of detector and the body part of image, the critical value can be set to
16*2*100=3.2G or more.
It is recommended not to delete images that are not archived, printed or exported.
NOTE: To avoid deleting important images by mistake, these images can be protected.
When a patient's images are protected, these images will not be deleted. In the “LOCAL” study list,
there are some tools related with image deletion and protection operations as described in the below
table.
NOTE: To delete images manually, as default, users with administrator privileges are required.
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7 Advanced Applications
7
Advanced
Applications
This chapter describes advanced applications of the software in detail, including image stitching, dual-
energy and so on. Advanced applications are licensed optional functions. Thus, not all advanced
functions are included in the current installation.
The image stitching function is to make up for the limitation of imaging size of existing detectors.
Technicians cannot obtain such larger images as whole body image, whole spine image, etc. at one
x-ray acquisition.
Stitching methods include automatic stitching and manual stitching. Automatic stitching usually
requires working with the automatic positioning device to achieve a high success rate of stitching
effect. If the effect of automatic stitching is not good, manual stitching can be used. If there is no
automatic positioning devices, the effect of automatic stitching is often not ideal; therefore, manual
stitching is often used to achieve better stitching effect.
Step 1: create a patient and select “Advanced->Image Stitch” during selecting a protocol,
which normally including 2~8 views.
Positioning device and preparing patient for exposure.
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Step 2: image acquisition one by one for these 2~8 views. Before each view is exposed, the
detector and the tube need to move to the designated position "automatically" or "manually".
Step 3: Stitching images automatically or manually.
Step 4: Completing. To perform image cropping and saving operations.
If images have been generated previously, including the DCM format image imported from other
system, users can skip the first and second steps and directly select the study to enter the "STITCH"
screen, or select two or more images in the "VIEW" screen to enter the "STITCH" screen.
In the "NEW" page of the "PATIENT" menu of the navigation bar, fill in the patient information for
registration, and then select a stitching protocol by clicking the "Advanced" button below the dummy
patient and select the "Stitch" menu. Then, select the required stitching protocol in the stitching
protocol list as shown in the below figure.
After completing the new stitching procedure registration for a patient, click the “EXAM” button in the
navigation bar and the software will enter the image acquisition screen.
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In the process of acquiring images, in order to improve the quality of stitching, no matter the
positioning device is automatic or manual, please pay attention to the following:
All images for stitching must be acquired with the same SID.
For better image stitching effect, it is recommended to use the maximum SID allowed by the
hardware; for stitching images containing “Thorax”, it is recommended that the SID should NOT
be less than 150 cm.
Do not rotate the detector between exposures.
Two images for stitching need at least 1/8 of the overlapping area for a better stitching success
rate.
To avoid separating the chest into two images, acquiring chest image is always done in one
exposure.
Try to ensure that the anatomy is at the center of image. For example, to get a long arm image
with multiple exposures, make sure the arm is perpendicular to the center of detector.
NOTE: When acquiring images for stitching, try to avoid patient movement; otherwise it may
affect the stitching effect.
NOTE: Exposure parameters may need to be adjusted for different body parts.
During the image acquisition process, all views in the stitching procedure will be exposed in turn. For
each exposure, the positioning device, the detector and the x-ray tube move to the corresponding
position, and complete the image acquisition.
After acquiring all images of a stitch procedure, the stitching can be started immediately. The
previously acquired images can also be stitched. Also, several DCM format images imported from
outside can be stitched. For a completed study, you can select images that need to be stitched in the
“VIEW” screen, and then click the “STITCH” button in the navigation bar to start automatic stitching
or manual stitching. No matter images that need stitching comes from the cooperation of automatic
positioning device or not, the software can be used to stitch them automatically.
When all images of a stich procedure is acquired, the software will enter the "STITCH" screen. By
default, the software will start automatic stitching. Each stitching of two images takes about 10
seconds. Please do not do any operation until the stitching is completed.
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NOTE: Evaluate the image quality after automatic stitching and start manual stitching when
necessary.
No matter image acquisition is supported by the automatic positioning device or not, as long as there
are more than two DCM format images, they can be stitched.
If there are more than two images, the software will stitch them one by one. Firstly, the first and second
images are stitched together. After the stitching preview is accepted, it will continue to stitch the third
image together, and so on. Until the last image is stitched together, the whole stitched image can be
obtained.
The left side of the stitching screen is the image index pane. Before starting stitching, please select
several images in the image index pane, where the symbol is shown in the lower right corner of
a selected image. At the same time, the image index can be reordered by dragging the mouse.
Furthermore, images can be rotated and flipped by using buttons in the operation panel. The middle
area is the image preview are.
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NOTE: When the stitching begins, the order and direction of stitched images cannot be adjusted.
After adjusting the order and direction of images before stitching, click the "Start" button to enter the
manual stitching mode. The order of image stitching is pair-wise according to the order of images in
the image index. When stitching any two images in a stitching process, click the “Next” button for
automatic stitching, or use one of the three auxiliary stitching tools provided by the software to improve
the success rate of manual stitching.
Cross-shaped
Click the button, and then place the cross as the stitching benchmark in
Reference Point
the "close" positions of the two stitching images.
Tool
Click the button, and then place the rectangular box at a similar position on
Rectangular the two stitching images to select the matching area. The rectangular area
Reference Zone on the upper image is the feature area (FA), while the rectangular area on
Tool the lower image is the being searched area (SA), where is required to
contain the feature area.
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Crosshair Click the button, and then place the crosshair to select the reference point
Absolute Point at the position of the two switching images. These two points should be
Tool "the identical" pixel absolutely.
The following figure shows an example of the cross-shaped reference point tool. The position of the
reference point is placed not only in the overlapping area of the two images, but also in the body part
with obvious anatomical features to improve the success rate of stitching.
The following figure shows an example of the Rectangular Reference Zone tool. In the case of spine
images, the upper feature area (FA) preferably contains a complete, clear vertebra and a small portion
of two adjacent vertebras, without ribs; while the lower search area (SA) may also contain more
portion of two adjacent vertebras.
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NOTE: The success rate of the zone matching is much higher than that of the point matching.
After each two images are stitched, the overlapping zone can be checked in the transparent mode or
in the fusion mode.
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Hide
Click this button, the overlapping area in transparent mode will be
Overlapping
displayed in the fusion mode.
(Fusion Mode)
In the transparent mode, the seam of the stitched image can be adjusted. A seam is indicated by a
dashed line. Carefully observe the image seam during adjusting the overlapping area with the four
direction buttons. Accuracy can reach one pixel per step. Each time the direction button is clicked,
the lower image will move a few pixels, and the moving pixel value of one step can be adjusted
manually. By default, each step represents 5 pixels. To change the pace, please drag the step slider.
NOTE: The software will automatically adjust the window width and the window level of the image
after stitching. The WW/L can also be adjusted manually by dragging the right mouse button.
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NOTE: In the image display area, the user can scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in or out to view
the image.
After multiple images are stitched into one image, its WW/L will be automatically balanced; users can
also use the right mouse button to make some adjustments as needed. There are also some follow-
up works that need to be done, mainly including cropping and saving. The following table describes
related buttons that will be used at this stage.
Click this button to add a crop box to the image, indicated by a yellow
Show/Hide rectangle, which border and its four corners can be dragged by the mouse
Crop Box to change its size. Inside the crop box, press the left mouse button to drag
its position.
Perform
Click this button to perform the cropping operation. The software will crop
Cropping
the stitched image according to the crop box.
Operation
Click this button, the stitched image will be saved and the software will return
Save Stitched
to the “EXAM” screen, and its thumbnail will be automatically created in the
Image
image index.
One of the main operations in the closing stage is to crop the stitched image. Then, save the cropped
image. If the image quality of the stitched image is not satisfactory, you can give it up or restart
stitching if necessary.
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In the "STITCH" screen, in addition to the normal manual stitching by clicking the "Start" button, for
images of bilateral limbs, in order to improve the quality of stitching, click the "Start Slit Split” button
and the software will start manual stitching for single lateral limb. The side-by-side stitching method
for one side is the same as that of common manual stitching. With this stitching method, the stitching
of both sides will be performed respectively, and then stich the left side and the right side into one
image.
1 2
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3 4
NOTE: Cloud Share function is a licensed option controlled by the console software
dongle.
Step 1. Select a study that need sharing its images, and then click the Share Image button.
Step 2. Provide a patient contact information and/or select a doctor contact information.
Step 3. In the share list page, operators can print the QR code of a study, check the sharing
status and re-share images to other contacts.
After received an image shared message, users can view images online or download images to local
for offline viewing.
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Share Clicking this button to start sharing images in the VIEW interface or in the
Image local history studies.
Add a Clicking this button to select a doctor contact for image sharing, or add a
Contact new doctor contact the doctor contact list.
Related contact media in this dialog box are described in the below table.
To select one or multiple doctor as contacts, click the button “Add a Contact” and the current
registered doctors are listed. To share images to one or multiple doctors, select them in the current
doctor list and then click the button “OK” to continue image sharing operations. To delete one or
multiple doctors in the doctor list, select them and then click the button “Delete”. To add a new doctor
who is not listed in the doctor list, click the button “Add”. In the Contact Information dialog box, to exit
and save the contact information, click the button “Save”.
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After an image sharing job is submitted, images shared will be uploaded to the Cloud PACS in the
background and send a download link to each appointed contact via pre-specified communication
media as email, SMS of phone, and WeChat etc.
In the right operation pane of the Share List page, operators could filter the share list by specified
conditions. Filtering can be based on Patient Name, Patient ID, Accession Number, Date of Share,
and shared status.
To re-share some images, click the button “Re-Share” in the Share List page to start re-sharing
operations. During image re-sharing operations, operators need to specify contacts again, who could
be different with previous shared contacts.
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Re-Share
Clicking this button to start re-sharing images in the Share List page.
Image
After an image sharing job is submitted, its download link will be sent to each appointed contact via
pre-specified communication media as email, SMS of phone, and WeChat etc.
NOTE: Image re-sharing operation will not upload images again but will re-use the
same download link as before.
Figure 7-11: An Example of New Message from Cloud Share Service in Email
When this link is opened in any web browser of any operating systems as Windows, iOS, and Android,
the following example web page will be shown,
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In the above webpage, there are 3 icons with different meanings, which are described in the below
table.
Download JPEG Download shared images in the JPEG format, which can be opened
Images with any image viewing tool on the target operating system.
View Images
Directly open shared images online with the current web browser.
Online
When shared images are open in the current web browser, images can be viewed online as the below
example. How long it will be took to display one image on your web browser normally depends on
your network performance.
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The online zooming and the online panning operations are supported. The current opened image
online can be zoomed in/out with the mouse wheel.
When a contact receives a cloud share message by SMS or by WeChat with his/her smart phone,
this message contains the same related information as via Email, i.e., the time of shared, an image
download link, and the patient name with PID. Shared images can be viewed online with a smart
phone directly by clicking the image link.
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Figure 7-14: Example of SMS Message and Viewing Shared Image on Smart Phone
Clicking this button will generate a 2D barcode for each selected study.
Operators can print 2D barcodes and give each to its patient and other
Share authorized users. A patient can access images after scanning a received
Print 2D barcode with his/her smart phone and then viewing images online. The
2D barcode is unique for one study. Thus it can be copied or re-printed
multiple times.
NOTE: The 2D barcode can only be generated for successfully shared images. For
expired, failed, and being shared images, no barcodes can be generated.
If there is a battery-powered wireless flat panel detector (FPD) in the current system hardware
configuration, it could not only acquire images with the current digital console, as we called “Online
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Acquisition Mode”, but also be working in the offline mode when it can support the automatic exposure
control (AEC) mode and has a larger memory. The offline mode is also called the Autonomous mode.
NOTE: The Offline Acquisition Mode function is a licensed option controlled by the
console software dongle.
When such a detector in the offline mode, it can work with any X-ray generator to acquire images.
The number of images stored in the detector depends on its memory size. The Offline Acquisition
Mode is much similar to the conventional CR working mode.
NOTE: To get more instructions on how to acquire images when a detector is in the
offline status, please refer to the detector manual.
After some image acquisitions in the offline mode, this detector could be connected to the current
digital console again, where operators can download images from this detector and map images to
patients.
Go to the PATIENT > FPD Studies page in the console software, configured autonomous detectors
are listed, where its basic information and connection status are provided. For an offline detector,
select it and click the button “Online”, the console software will connect it; on the contrary, for an
online detector, select it and click the button “Offline”, the console software will disconnect it.
After a detector is online, click the “Sync” button in the right control panel, the image list inside this detector
will be downloaded to the “FPD Studies” page. Then, click the button “Retrieve images” to download
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images from the detector to the console software. Finally, to offline this detector again, click the button
“Offline” and it could be used for image acquisition offline again. Before disconnecting an autonomous
detector, click the button “Empty” to remove all images inside the detector and the memory of the detector
will be released.
Buttons provided in the right control panel in the “FPD Studies” page are described in the below table.
When the local cache in the “FPD Studies” is selected, selecting one
image and clicking this button will delete the image from the local
chache.
Delete Image
When an online detector is selected, selecting one image and clicking
this button is useless normaly because this image occupied memory
inside the FPD will not be released.
When an online detector is selected, clicking this button will empty the
detector memory and all images stored in the detector memory will be
Empty deleted.
When the local cache in the “FPD Studies” is selected, clicking this
button will empty the local chached images from automous detectors.
To improve an autonomous FPD’s throughput, an operator could download all the images from the FPD
memory to the console software cache and then empty the detector memory. The image mapping
operations could be executed during this FPD is offline. This workflow is what we called “Offline Mapping”.
As an alternative workflow, when an autonomous detector is online and selected; operators can select an
image and then start mapping directly; them the selected image will be downloaded during the mapping
operation. The key of this workflow is an FPD must be online when mapping its images. This workflow is
what we called “Online Mapping”.
NOTE: When a Patient ID (or Accession Number, depending on the system configuration)
in the “FPD Studies” already exists in the WORKLIST page or in the local history studies,
this patient other natural information will be linked automatically.
To start the image mapping operation, select an image in the “FPD Studies” page and then click the
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“Mapping” button. If the patient has been identified by the console software automatically, it will jump to
the image mapping screen directly; otherwise, the “New Patient” screen will be required to fill in related
information and then clicking the “Mapping” button at the bottom of the “New Patient” screen.
In the image mapping screen, the left part is the view list and the right part is the image thumbnail list
retrieved from a FPD. Operators can drag & drop an image thumbnail from the right area to a view in the
left area. As an alternative way, operators can click on one image and click on one view, then click the icon
NOTE: Only after an image has been mapped, it is copied from the console cache or from
the detector memory to the console software database PPACS.
NOTE: During mapping images, operators can also add or delete views by using the
button at the bottom in the Image Mapping screen.
After one image and one view has been mapped, the view icon will be replaced with its image thumbnail
and its image thumbnail in the right part of screen will be deleted. To un-map a mapped image, click the
NOTE: After the image mapping operation is closed, if related mistakes are identified,
operators could use the function of the edit patient, the edit view, or the swap images for
different cases.
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After all images have been mapped or all images in the detector memory have been downloaded to the
console cache, operators could empty the detector memory and continue other offline acquisition tasks.
DO NOT delete an image in FPD memory or empty the FPD memory until all
images in the detector memory have been downloaded to the console cache
or the image mapping operation is completed!
Dual Energy (DE) needs acquiring a low kVp image and a high kVp image in rapid succession. The
acquired images are processed to create a soft-tissue image and a bone image, which eliminates
obstruction from overlying bones and provides more information on calcification content.
Dual Energy application is often used for Chest and Abdomen AP and PA anatomical views. DE has
significant potential for improving the conspicuity of chest pathology by removing the bone structures
and for improving specificity by providing calcification information in the bone image, which greatly
aids in characterizing pulmonary nodules. Dual-energy subtraction images are also helpful in the
recognition of hilar and meditational masses; the detection of tracheal narrowing and vascular disease;
the identification of bone, pleural, and chest wall abnormalities.
In the DE applications, it is compulsory to use Automatic Exposure Control (AEC). Therefore, even
the kV is different (high and low), the image EXIs of these two images are similar.
NOTE: The Dual Energy function requires related imaging components supporting it including the
x-ray generator and the flat panel detector.
1. To start a dual-energy exam, select “Advanced->Dual Energy” during selecting a protocol for
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a patient.
2. Positioning device and patient preparation.
3. After entering the exam screen, pressing down and holding the hand switch until these two
exposures, one is the low dose and the other is the high dose, are completed.
4. Next, the software will automatically process these two images and created two new
processed Dual Energy images, one is about bones, and the other is about soft tissues.
5. Click “Close” button to exit the dual energy image procedure.
NOTE: It is particularly important for the patient not to move or breathe during the DE exposure.
Excessive whole-body patient motion can result in residual rib contrast in the soft-tissue image.
The Dual Energy (DE) module is an advanced option, which maybe not exist in your software.
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8 System Management
8
System
Management
This chapter focuses on system management. From SYSTEM menu in the navigation bar, users can
perform following management tasks:
General system management, such as checking system status, account management, and
statistics
Detector calibration
Preference settings
Basic software settings
DICOM network settings
Protocol management
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When the background color of “X” become red, it means some hardware or
software error happened and the software has some important functions cannot
System Error work. Clicking this icon can see its detailed error information. Under most cases,
the software and related hardware need to be restarted in order to clear the error
message.
System No It means no any hardware or software warning message. Normally, the software
Warning system can work in this status.
When the background color of “!” become yellow, it means some hardware or
System software warning happened. The software may work in a degraded mode and
Warning some functions may not work. Clicking this icon can see its detailed warning
information.
Shows the percentage of the tube heat unit (HU). When there is no enough
Tube Heat Unit
remaining HU, the x-ray exposure will be inhibited.
For a digital flat panel detector, its temperature information can be provided.
At most 3 digital FPDs can be supported in one system. The number of FPD
FPD
is labeled on icon. To see the detailed temperature information of a FPD,
Temperature
please move the mouse on the corresponding icon.
Status
If the FPD temperature is out of its recommended working temperature
range, its image quality may not be guaranteed.
If a flat panel detector (FPD) supports the wireless mode, its wireless signal
status could be provided with multiple levels.
At most 3 wireless FPDs can be supported in one system. The number of
FPD is labeled on icon. To see its detailed information, please move the
FPD Wi-Fi
mouse on the corresponding icon.
Status
Make sure the FPD Wi-Fi signal strength is good enough. Otherwise, the
image transfer time may become longer or even fail. If an image is lost due
to its FPD Wi-Fi signal is very low, please try to recover this image after its
Wi-Fi status become good.
If a flat panel detector (FPD) is chargeable, the remaining power of its
battery could be provided with multiple levels.
At most 3 FPDs can be supported in one system. The number of FPD is
FPD Battery
labeled on icon. To see the detailed battery information of a FPD, please
Status
move the mouse on the corresponding icon.
Please check each FPD battery frequently. Recharge it or replace it if
necessary.
Host Battery
If the software host is a laptop or tablet, its battery status could be provided.
Status
If the software host has Ethernet connection with the hospital network, it
Host Network provides the network connection status to PACS nodes and to DICOM printers.
Status It can also provide its Wi-Fi signal status if have. To see its detailed information,
please click on this icon.
Disk Space Status contains 5 levels. To see its detailed information, please
move the mouse on this icon. When there is no more disk space available for
Disk Space the current system usage, this icon color will become red. At this moment, it is
Status strongly recommended to free some disk space by transferring images to a
dedicated PACS or exporting images to USB disks or DVDs and then delete
local copies.
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The Manager role focuses on system management, software settings, user account
Manager management, network configuration, and hardware configurations, etc. A normal clinical
workflow as for the Technician role is not designed as this role’s main task.
Including all privileges for the Technician role, the application role can also manage
Application protocols, such as create new views and procedures, change the x-ray exposure
technique settings and image post-processing settings in the system database.
Standard and limited role, only allow to go through the whole image acquisition workflow
Technician
including new patient registration, taking exams and managing images.
User Name: minimum length is one character and maximum length is 64 characters;
User ID: minimum length is one character and maximum length is 10 characters;
User Password: minimum length is 8 characters and maximum length is 64 characters.
From SYSTEM menu in the Navigation Bar, click User Accounts tab to open the User Management
window as shown in the below figure. When a user login with the manager privilege account, all user
accounts are listed; otherwise, each user can only see his/her own account information. In this window,
you can create a new account, edit an existing user, or delete an existing user.
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To start creating a new user account, click the “New” Button in the bottom of the User Account
management window.
NOTE: Passwords are case sensitive. The asterisk (*) character displays for each entered
character to protect the privacy of the password.
NOTE: Only the Manager role can create new user accounts, edit and delete existing user
accounts. Users of other roles can only change his/her password.
To edit an existing user account, select this account in the user account list and then click the “Edit”
Button in the bottom of the User Account management window.
To delete an existing user account, select this account in the user account list and then click the
“Delete” Button in the bottom of the User Account management window.
For each statistics, specify the query criteria, such as the date range, and then click Query button.
The queried results will be summarized and listed.
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To export a statistic result, click Export button to save the statistic information as an Excel file.
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For emergency registration, the patient’s default name is PID Prefix + date + sequence number. You
can choose, add or delete a PID Prefix.
To add a PID prefix, input texts in the field of PID Prefix and click “New” button; then this prefix will be
added to the Patient ID Prefix list.
To delete a prefix, select one item from Patient ID Prefix list and then click the “Delete” button.
To specify the default procedure for emergency examinations, click the “Add Procedure” button.
NOTE: All preference settings are effective for all users of all roles.
In the navigator menu “SYSTEM”, go to the page “PREFERENCES”, all preference settings is shown
as in the below picture.
Users could change some general items listed in the below table.
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# Items Description
Date and time The date and time format used in the software can be changed according to user’s
1
format preference.
There are two options for selection when using the magnifier tool in the image
manipulation screen:
Magnifier move
2 Move white pointer. The magnified area will move with the mouse point.
mode
Doesn't move. The magnified area will not move and will be displayed at a
fixed corner on the image when moving the mouse.
Font type and Please select the front display place first, select a preferred font type, and finally
3
size increase or decrease the font size.
Whether hide the “^” marker between names. It only influences the user interface,
Patient name but not changes the DICOM header.
4
format Whether the first name first display. Otherwise, the last name will be displayed
first in the user interface, it will not change the DICOM header.
Left and right The left and right marker of different languages are different. Please select your
5
marker preferred left and right marker.
When users query the local worklist, due to the performance consideration, the
Local query date
6 default query date range is 1000 days before today. Images acquired earlier than
range
these days will not be queried even they are existing in the local image database.
In the image manipulation screen, users can add some annotations on the image. The system
predefined some annotation for selection. Users also can also predefine their own annotations for
selection. Users could change some annotation preference as described in the below table.
# Items Description
When rejecting an image, users can select one reject reason. Users cannot modify the system
predefined reject reasons.
The workflow related preferences settings are described in the below table.
# Items Description
Users can decide which DICOM tags are displayed in the Worklist
1 Worklist column settings
column and decide their display place in the column.
When a use login the system first time, which page should be
The default page of patient
2 displayed in the patient screen as default. Normally if no HIS/RIS is
screen
connected, the New patient page should be the default one.
When a patient has multiple studies, users can decide whether to start
them together or separately. Users can decide whether to merge them
3 Multiple study settings together or separately in the Exam screen if start all of them in one
examination. In the Exam screen, users can also merge or separate
multiple studies online if this switch is turned on.
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Automatically jump to the After an image is acquired, users can decide the time of displaying the
4 Exam screens after image at the Viewer screen and then automatically jump to the Exam
exposure. screen or not.
If the software cannot communicate with the x-ray generator, after an
Allowed to edit exposure image is acquired, users can decide whether to fill in the used
5
APRs exposure APRs or not, which will be recorded in the DICOM header
of the image.
If the software cannot communicate with the x-ray generator, in the
Provide suggested exposure
6 Exam screen, users can decide whether displays recommended
APRs
exposure APRs in the control panel or not.
The image manipulation related preferences settings are described in the below table.
# Items Description
Whenever an image is shuttered, users can select whether fit it to
1 Fit to window when shuttered
window or not automatically.
Default image processing For an acquired image, users can select the default image post
2
style processing style.
In the image viewer screen users can select often used tools and their
3 Select often used tools
display place.
8.4 Calibration
8.4.1 Monitor Calibration
To work with the console software, the display monitor is required to be calibrated before its clinical
usage.
The monitor requirements for image acquisition and image diagnostic are different. The following
picture is a SMPTE test pattern, which could be located in the folder “Tools” under the console
software installation directory.
To only meet the acquisition requirement, open SMPTE picture in the full screen mode and then
Adjust the monitor brightness so that the 95% white square is visible into the 100% white.
Adjust the monitor contrast so that the 5% black square is visible into the 0% black.
Repeat above two steps until the both conditions are met at the same time.
To meet the diagnostic requirement, not only need to make sure the acquisition requirements are met,
but also need to make all the line pairs in the corners and in the center of the screen can be
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distinguished clearly, no overlap, and no distortion. It is just basic requirements for diagnostics.
NOTE: Make sure the monitor is located where it has the proper ambient light conditions - dim
room with no echoes on the monitor. Day light must be avoided.
.
NOTE: During display calibration, please adjust the room lighting to match the typical room
ambient light setting that will be used during normal operation.
It is recommended to start detector calibration after the x-ray tube is warm up and the
detector is in the stable working temperature range.
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On the front page of calibration, prerequisites are listed. Please follow instructions and make sure all
prerequisites are met for the calibration. Also, ensure everyone is out of the X-ray room. Then, click
the Begin button to start the detector calibration procedure.
In each step of calibration, please adjust the x-ray exposure techniques on the basis of the
recommended values in the operation panel. Then take an exposure to acquire an image.
After an image is acquired, the software will calculate its average pixel grey value and the difference
with the required target value. Click the Accept button if their difference is within the required range;
otherwise, click the Reject button and repeat acquisition.
NOTE: Please reject an image if it exhibits any edge cut-off due to incorrect collimation,
misalignment, or if there is any artifact from debris or obstructions.
Please follow the software instructions strictly during the entire calibration procedure. Repeat previous
image acquisition steps until acquire all required images. Then, a dialogue box will prompt for its
results confirmation. To accept the final calibration results click the Save button, to discard the current
calibration click Abort button, and to quit the current calibration click Close button.
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NOTE: The acquired image during calibration MUST be rejected if it has any cut-off
edge due to collimation or misalignment. The image MUST also be rejected if there is
any artifact caused by debris or obstructions.
# Item Description
It is often the hospital’s name. It could be displayed on an image corner or
1 Institution Name printed on a film corner.
It is the DR system name with the console software, especially when a
2 Station Name hospital have multiple DR systems and could be easily identified with
this name.
It is the modality name of the DR system with the console software. All
3 Modality images created by this DR system will be labeled as this modality and
send to other DICOM nodes. Its default value is “DX”.
To change 4-corner tags on images in the VIEW screen, select “View Tags” in the dropdown list of
“Tag for” and then continue; while to change 4-corner tags on films when printing images, select “Film
Tags” and then continue.
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To change the default format of a 4-corner tag, click this tag and then click button “Edit” as shown in
the below example picture.
The key items in the above picture are described in the below table.
# Item Description
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1 Prefix The text string in front of the content of the tag item on images or printed on films.
2 Postfix The text string behind the content of the tag item on images or printed on films.
Normally, the content of a 4-corner tag is changing for different exams. However, to
5 Default Value predefine a constant content for it without changing by different exams, select the
radio button “Fixed” and then input your expected string in this text field.
The key items in the above picture are described in the below table.
# Item Description
Whether to manage computer disk space for image storage by the
1 Auto Management console software. If “YES”, the console software may delete oldest
images under some conditions.
The console software will pop up warning messages when the disk free
Free space notification
2 space of image storage is less than the value of this item. If “Auto
when it is less than
Management” is “YES”, the console software will delete oldest images.
Only effective when “Auto Management” is “YES”. The minimum value
Free space until its available of free disk space that console software is required. If auto deleting
3
size is larger than images is ongoing, it will stop deleting action whenever the free space
of image storage is larger than the value of this item.
4 Disk Watch Interval The disk management watch time interval.
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NOTE: Before starting network settings, please contact hospital IT administrators for support.
Before setting connections to hospital DICOM network nodes, local network IP address must be
configured in the same sub network with the other DICOM nodes.
To setup DICOM networks, please open the Config Tool and go to the page “Networks”.
Image archive server, i.e., PACS, is used for storing images. In this tab, an archive node can be
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To add a new Archive node, click “New” button, fill in each field and then click “Apply” button, and a
new archive node will be added in the archive node list. Multiple archive nodes could be added to the
software.
To delete an Archive node, select this node in the Archive Nodes List, then click “Delete” button.
To edit an Archive node, select one Archive node in the Archive Nodes List, and then edit its detailed
information at the right field. Click the “Apply” button to take effect.
To auto send images to the current archive node whenever an exam is suspended or finished, tick
the checkbox “Auto Send”.
If one archive node support the RDSR function, the software can send dose information as RDSR
format to this archive node.
If one archive node support the image storage commitment function, click the button “Advanced” to
start its network settings for the storage commitment service.
NOTE: If a DICOM archive node doesn’t support the Storage Commitment function, it should
NOT be enabled on the software; otherwise the software will try to communicate with the non-
existing storage commitment service and thus slow down the system performance.
To test whether one DICOM network node configuration is correct or not, click the button “Verify” and
then the software will communicate with the remote DICOM node with a unique IP address, a unique
local IP port, and a unique called AE tile. If the Echo test is failed, a short message will be displayed.
The “ping” command can be used before the “ECHO” test. If “ping” is failed, please contact the hospital
network administrator.
The PPACS will also “ECHO” all configured DICOM nodes at background regularly. Its verification
interval could be setup in “Config Tool > Workflow > System > Network Node Verification”.
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The definition of key items in the above picture is shown in the below table.
# Item Description
DX or CR. In most cases DX is used for the digital x-ray modality, which
1 Modality
supports DX images; The CR is used for computed radiology modality.
2 Host Alias Name The local alias name of the target DICOM node.
The network port number of the target DICOM node for a DICOM service. It is
4 Host Port a valid port number to be used when establishing TCP/UDP connection.
Range = 1 to 32767.
5 Called AE Title The Application Entity Title of the called DICOM node.
The Application Entity (AE) Title of the local host. Its default value is the current
6 Calling AE Title
computer’s name.
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NOTE: Please make sure you know the specific requirements for the Calling AE title by the
hospital’s HIS/RIS server.
NOTE: The console host computer could be assigned with multiple different AE titles to
communicate with different hospital DICOM nodes.
.
To enable the function of auto query and retrieve worklist from HIS/RIS server at background, please
tick the checkbox of “Enable Worklist”.
If the Echo test is successful, worklist query detailed results could be retrieved, which could be used
for RIS code mapping trouble shootings.
When a record is queried form a Modality Worklist (MWL), some DICOM header fields will be retrieved
from this record and be filled to the image header. The hospital HIS/RIS worklist server and the
console software may support different DICOM tags. Also, it is possible that they use a different tag
to store the same contents. Then, you need to map these tags in order to make sure content are
correctly transferred from hospital MWL to the software.
To map all inconsistent DICOM tags, in the Worklist settings page, click the button “Advanced” to start.
To map a DICOM tag, select one tag in the “Worklist Field Mapping” list, which reprinting supported
DICOM tags by HIS/RIS server; then, select one tag in the “Target Tag” list.
To quickly map only two compulsory DICOM tags by the software, in the Worklist settings page, click
the button “Basic” to start. The key DICOM tags are compulsory by the software are listed as below.
Item Description
Performed Protocol Code Meaning It is normally a string to describe a scheduled exam study.
Scheduled Protocol Code Value It is often a unique code to label a scheduled exam study.
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NOTE: Please contact hospital IT admins to get these two DICOM tags used by the hospital
RIS/HIS server.
In the Worklist Tag page, it is to specify one tag or multiple tags as the unique identifier of one work.
The software can save new worklist record in local database as cache; when the software get a new
worklist record and the record exists in the local database, the software will not save it any more.
Some DICOM tags in this page are used together to judge whether a new retrieved worklist record is
already existed in the local database or not.
Because of the uncertainty of Modality Worklist (MWL) provider, the content of worklist may be un-
consistent. Generally speaking, Accession number or study instance UID is the ideal ID to identity a
worklist record uniquely. However, some worklist provider does not conform to the normal standard
to create worklist, and accession number or study instance UID are not consistent with the same
worklist when worklist is refreshed.
To avoid leaving fake or rubbish data in the worklist records, using more than one field to identity the
worklist record is required. If one field is checked, this field will be set as parameter to identify the
worklist record. Accordingly, the software can judge whether a worklist record is already existed in
the local database or not by checking (more than) one field in worklist to get rid of the repeated and
already existed ones.
NOTE: If the worklist identity tag is not correctly configured, the situation that repeats worklist item
retrieving or some worklist item missing would happen.
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DICOM printer node is used for image printing. In this tab, a DICOM printer can be added, deleted or
edited.
To add a new DICOM printer, click “New” button, fill in each field and then click “Apply” button; a new
printer node will be added in the printer node list.
To delete a DICOM printer, select a printer node in the printer nodes list, click “Delete” button; this
printer will be deleted from the printer nodes list.
To edit a DICOM printer, select one printer node in the Printer Nodes List, and then edit its detailed
information at the right fields. Click the “Apply” button to take effect.
Multiple DICOM printer could be connected with the software. To select one as the default DICOM
printer, select it in the Printer Node List, and then tick the checkbox “Default Printer”.
Multiple film size types often could be supported by one DICOM printer. Select all film sizes from film
size list to indicate which film size is supported by current printer node. If one film size is not listed in
the “Film Size Supported” list, click “New” button under it to start adding one specific film size as
shown in the below picture.
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To change some advanced configuration options of DICOM printer and films, please go to “Config
Tool > Workflow > Tags” and select “Film Tags” in the top left window. Then, click button “Advanced”
and “Advance Options” window appears as below picture.
The items of 3 values in the above picture are described in the below table.
# Item Description
Stop Import If The necessary minimum available memory of the DICOM Printer. It less than
1
Memory Below this value, the printer will stop receiving images for printing.
DPI Of DICOM
2 The Drop Per Inch of DICOM printer.
Printer
Minimum Size Of
3 The minimum size of Region of Interests of images for printing.
ROI Bitmap
The items of 3 checkboxes in the above picture are described in the below table. These items are
related with Film Composer of the console software.
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# Item Description
For images without length calibration, its "true size" is calculated by the detector
True Size After
1 pixel size. When entering the film composer interface to load images for the first
Import
time, it defines whether to print images in its real size.
Apply Layout To
2 Whether to apply layout to all film sheets during film composing.
All Sheet
Show Patient Patient orientation (column/row) could be shown or hidden in 4 edges of each
3
Orientation Label image on a film. This item specify whether to show patient orientation labels.
This service can run on RIS/HIS and PACS. Normally, each modality sends MPPS messages to a
unique MPPS server, which is usually running on RIS/HIS that will forward these messages to each
PACS node if it supports MPPS service. It helps give the radiology department a more precise handle
on resource (acquisition station) use. This service also allows a modality to coordinate with image
storage servers better by giving the server a list of objects to send before or while actually sending
such objects.
To enable the function of MPPS, please tick the checkbox of “Enable MPPS”.
NOTE: If a target DICOM node doesn’t support MPPS, please do NOT enable it on the software;
otherwise the software will try to communicate with the MPPS node and thus slow down the
system performance.
The protocol relationship map could be illustrated by the following figure. A view is an X-ray shot for
a specific position. A procedure is a set of different related Views. Each Procedure have a unique
code (sometimes it is also called RIS code), which is used for mapping the examination registered in
RIS. If RIS provides the worklist function (Worklist SCP), and convey the procedure code in each
worklist item, this system can interpret the procedure code to the View Sets according to this setting.
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1 1 1 1
RIS Code Part Procedure Print Style
1
N
1 N 1 1
Body Part View ID & Name
1 1 1
1
Exposure Technical Image Processing
APRs 1 X-ray Shot 1 APRs
Protocol Settings. In this section, the detailed protocol configurations for Procedure, View, and
emergency registration can be predefined.
Exposure techniques ARP Settings. In this section, the settings of Techniques ARP can be
configured for each view.
Post-process APR Settings. In this section, the settings of Image Process APR can be configured
for each view.
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# Attribute Description
The View name will be written in image DICOM header. English words are
1 View Name
preferred.
2 View Other Name Localized name of each View. It can be completed in local language.
3 View Description The information will be displayed on the software UI as a tip of operation.
4 Body Part This item defines the category that the View belongs to.
5 Anatomic Region Information of anatomical region for the current view.
Laterality of (possibly paired) body part (as described in Anatomic Region)
examined. Enumerated Values:
R = right
6 Image Laterality
L = left
U = unpaired
B = both left and right
7 View Position It defines the direction of x-ray beam projection.
Four attributes related with image orientation are described in the below table. The default image
orientation column and row normally follow doctor’s image viewing behaviors after rotation and flip
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operations. The default image orientation will be changed accordingly when it is rotated or flipped
online.
# Attribute Description
Default rotation angle when an image is captured. The item specifies whether
the original image acquired from detector should be rotated before displaying.
Enumerated Values:
1 Image Rotation 0 = 0 degree;
90 = 90 degree clockwise;
180 = 180 degree clockwise;
270 = 270 degree clockwise (or 90 degree anti-clockwise).
Default flip (in horizontal direction) setting when an image is captured. The
item specifies whether the original image acquired from detector should be
2 Horizontal Flip
horizontally flipped before displaying. If the view position is PA, the item
usually should be set to “YES”, or else should be set to “NO”.
Setting of object direction
information in the image. This
Patient Orientation specifies
patient’s body position relative to
the Y axial of image plane.
3 Orientation Column
This Patient Orientation specifies patient’s body position relative to the X axial
4 Orientation Row
of image plane.
Two attributes related with the default label are described in the below table.
# Attribute Description
The item specifies whether or what default label/mark is added on the image
1 Label Style when it is displayed in the VIEW screen. You can select one item from the
“Label Style” drop down list box. You also can enter a new label style.
The item specifies the position of the label on an image in VIEW screen.
2 Label Position Enumerated Values: LEFT TOP, RIGHT TOP, LEFT BOTTOM and RIGHT
BOTTOM.
# Attribute Description
Specify a picture which will be used as the patient positioning guide. The PNG
1 View Icon Name
format is recommended.
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2 View Coach Name Specify a picture which will be used as the sample acquired image.
To add a new view, click “New” button, the “Add View Wizard” window will pop-up. First of all you
should input the new View ID and specify its default workstation. Then, in the Body Part list, choose
one of them, the corresponding existing views will be listed in the Template View list, from which
selecting one as the template view, click the “Next” button to continuous, or click the “Cancel” button
to quit.
NOTE: Selecting an existing view as the template for this new view is the MOST IMPORTANT
step when creating a new view.
After clicking the “Next” button, the Edit New View window will be shown. The items in this window
are same as that in the View page. If you want to return to the previous step, click the “Back” button;
if you want to do the next step, click the “Next” button, or if you want to cancel the operate, click the
“Cancel” button.
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After clicking the “Next” button, the Edit Exposure Parameters window shows. Specify exposure
technical parameters in this window, and then click the “Next” button. The “Choose the user to use
the view” window appears. In this window, you can choose the user profile who can use this view.
After clicking the “Finish” button, the created new view will be added to the View List.
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To delete a view, select the view in the View List, click the “Delete” button to delete it. You can only
delete one view at a time; deleting multiply views at a time isn’t supported.
To edit a view, select it in the View List, then you can edit its detailed information at the right fields.
Click the “Apply” button to save your changes.
For each view, its visibility and default workstation could be predefined in the below window. When
the “Visible” attribute of a view is “NO”, it will be invisible in the workflow user interface.
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Procedures are grouped into multiple categories, such as SKULL, THORAX, SPINE, OFTEN USED,
etc. When category “OFTEN USED” is selected, the procedure list will only list all procedures which
“Often Used” attribute is “YES”. Each procedure includes several related child views.
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# Item Description
The code can identify each procedure uniquely, which should be consistent
1 Procedure code
with the RIS code.
The Procedure’s clinical name, which will be written in DICOM header file.
2 Procedure Name
English words are recommended.
The procedure’s simplified name. During patient registration, users can enter
Procedure Other Procedure Other Name to select the procedure more quickly than looking up
3
Name in the procedure list.(This function is optional depending on your console
software version)
The description for the procedure which will be displayed on the console
Procedure
4 software UI to give the operator guidance. Please use local clinical words
Description
which is familiar to operators.
5 Enable Whether to enable the procedure or not.
Enumerated Values are NORMAL, STITCH, QC and DUAL ENERGY. If
“STITCH” is selected, an auto mechanical device should be selected in
6 Procedure Type “Hardware > Mechanical” to support this auto stitch function. If no auto
mechanical device to support stitch function, please select “NORMAL” here
to use the manual stich function.
This item defines the category that the procedure belongs to. Enumerated
7 Body Part Values not only include different body parts, but also include STITCH, QC
and DUAL ENERGY etc.
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Body Part
8 It is the local clinical words that is familiar to operators.
Description
If this item is set to “YES”, the procedure displays in the procedure list when
9 Often Used Often Used Procedure checkbox is checked. That will help to search a
procedure more quickly.
To add a new procedure, click “New” button; then one procedure named “New Procedure xx” is added
and selected in the procedure list, and its default attributes display on the right. You can edit and fill
each item manually.
To delete a procedure, select the procedure from the Procedure List, then click the “Delete” button,
the procedure will be deleted. You can only delete one by one. Deleting multiple procedures at a time
isn’t supported.
To edit a procedure, select one procedure in the Procedure List, and then you can edit its detailed
information. Click the “Apply” button to save the changes.
NOTE: Please make sure hospital HIS/RIS worklist node has been setup correctly and its
network verification is successful before RIS code mapping.
NOTE: Please make sure HIS/RIS Worklist field mapping has been finished correctly, especially
for “Scheduled Protocol Code Value” and “Performed Protocol Code Meaning” before RIS code
mapping.
NOTE: Please make sure a list of DX/CR procedures used in the current hospital has been
provided by hospital administrators or related before RIS code mapping.
In the user interface of Procedure settings, please modify the contents of “Procedure Code”,
“Procedure Description”, and/or “Procedure Other Name” if have with hospital provided if a
procedure’s child views are the same.
If a procedure of hospital doesn’t exist in Config Tool, please create a new procedure for it and select
child views for it. Please modify child views if necessary, for example, add views to a procedure,
remove views from a procedure, or even create a new view for selection.
Each protocol contains multiple views. When connected to a DICOM printer, the default film layout
can also be predefined for different protocols. Select the "..." button behind the "Print Style" property
to start setting.
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After entering the print style setting interface, you can create a new print style. Set the film orientation
and print format.
NOTE: When only one image is printed on one film (layout is STANDARD\1,1), the direction of
the film is automatically determined.
If the DICOM printer supports the printing layout, you can set the default printing layout format; that
is, the layout can be used when one or more images are printed on a film. All images of the printed
protocol will be printed in this layout in turn. For example, if there are four images in a certain protocol,
and the selected layout format is STANDARD\1,2, the result of printing is that every two images are
printed on one film, and a total of 2 films are printed. If the number of images corresponding to the
last film is less than the number of images in the selected layout format, the insufficient space will
remain. For example, if a protocol has three images, the second film has only one image, and this
image still only occupies 1/2 of the film. The print style options are:
NOTE: If no mechanical device supporting auto stitch function in your system, you can use the
manual stitch function just by changing the attribute “Procedure Type” from “STITCH” to
“NORMAL” for each stitch procedure and keeping its procedure category as “STITCH”.
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In the Procedure List, select the category “STITCH”, all stitching procedures will be listed where if a
stitch procedure is selected, its child views and attributes are displayed. At the right lower part,
stitching mode related attributes are provided, in which common attributes are described in the below
table.
# Item Description
All the images for stitching must be acquired with the same SID.
1 SID To get the best image quality, it is highly recommended that SID should NOT
be less than 150cm; for the chest imaging, SID > = 180cm is recommended.
It defines the distance between the surface of body part examined to the
2 Patient to Imager
detector surface (not Patient-to-Bucky surface).
The two images need to be stitching must have at least 1/8 of overlapping
3 Overlap area. This value may not be used for some mechanical devices which could
calculate it by itself.
Define the movement direction of auto mechanical device for stitch function.
4 Direction Enumerated Values are UP DOWN and DOWN UP. For Table stitching
procedure, it can be regarded as LEFT to RIGHT and RIGHT to LEFT.
Define the movement type of auto mechanical device for stitch function.
5 Type
Enumerated Values are Angular or Linear.
It is the total length of body part examined for stitching. During an exam, this
6 Length
predefined value can be measured dynamically by the mechanical device.
7 Initial Position Detector center to the baseline distance. Co-related with attribute “Direction”.
NOTE: Above attributes are only valid when an auto mechanical device supports stitch function.
NOTE: Due to different design mechanism of different auto mechanical devices, some of above
attributes may NOT needed for a specific mechanical device.
For an auto stitch procedure, the number of its child views is based on its attribute “Overlap” and
“Length”. It will be automatically changed during an exam based on the run-time “Length”. If the
number of views calculated during an exam is larger or less than the predefined, the system will add
or delete the last view in an exam.
As the last configuration item, when an intelligent positioning device is integrated into your system,
for each view, not only stitch views but also non-stitch views, a “Position Number” is required in “APR >
Advanced” settings. In order to get a correct “Position Number” for each view, please refer to your
positioning device manual. During an exam, whenever a view is selected, the console software will
send this preset view’s position number to the positioning device and it will move to the predefined
position.
Additional workflow settings for stitch function is in “Workflow > Other Settings > Stitch Settings” as
shown in the below picture.
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# Item Description
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Enumerated Values:
mAs Mode: The dose is determined directly by mAs.
1 Exposure Mode
Time Mode: The dose is determined by mA and ms together.
AEC Mode: Automatic Exposure Control mode.
The tube voltage determines the quality of X-rays, reflecting the ability of
X-rays to penetrate objects, primarily affecting the contrast of raw images
and also affecting the brightness of raw images. The higher the tube
2 kV voltage, the wider the gray level of the acquired image.
The range of tube voltage varies with the type of high voltage generator.
Empirical formula: mAs × 2 ≈ kV × 115%
The time mode is usually used in cases where there are special
4 ms requirements for exposure time. For example, chest radiography requires
short exposure time to reduce motion artifacts.
It is the product of exposure current and exposure time. It affects the
5 mAs brightness of raw images.
Only when the mAs mode is selected, it can be adjusted manually.
6 Focus Enumerated Values are small size focus and large size focus.
7 Grid Type Recommended Grid type. This Grid type list is defined in Hardware > Grid.
8 AEC Film Speed The film speed at the mode of Automatic Exposure Control.
A parameter to adjust AED sensitivity. A larger AEC Density means more
dose. The AEC density range depends on generator. In some generators,
9 AEC Density
AEC density is not set by the console software, and users must adjust it in
the hardware console manually.
The first digital stands for the left ion chamber, the second digital stands for
the middle ion chamber, and the third digital stands for the right ion chamber.
The digital of 0 means the corresponding ion chamber is not selected; the
10 AEC Field
digital of 1 means the corresponding ion chamber is selected. For example,
when taking a Chest exams the AEC Field value is set to 101, which means
using the left and right ionization fields and deactivating the middle one.
To edit the technical parameters of one workstation or a detector, select this workstation or detector
first; then select one view from the View List and one patient size (Large, Medium, Small, or Pediatrics),
and finally you can edit its exposure technical parameters. When there is no a specific Exposure
Technical Factor File is specified in “Protocol > Parameter > Current Configured FPD Parameter”, all
your edit on technical parameters of one view here will be saved in “Global Shared Parameter >
Default Exposure Technical Parameter”.
NOTE: If a detector type selected here is not the one selected in “Hardware > Detector”, all
changed here are NOT effective for this system.
In addition, you also can quickly copy exposure technical APRs of one patient size or all patient size
of one View from one to another.
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To import a protocol backup, click the button “…” in the “Import Profile” area and select a protocol
backup file and then click the button “Import”.
NOTE: Only can import a protocol backup file that is backed up from the same software version.
To backup and restore between different software versions, please contact your support
engineer.
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Appendix: Glossary
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Appendix Page 128
User Manual
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