This DICOM toolkit extends all the imaging toolkit functionality in the ImageGear Professional imaging SDK including support for reading, writing, and converting images in the most popular formats in addition to the DICOM format. These imaging SDK features include reading and writing PDF documents, TWAIN and ISIS image acquisition, barcode recognition, and other recognition capabilities including OCR, ICR and OMR and much more.
Medical Formats
The format support of the ImageGear MD component includes loading and saving monochrome, palletized, and true color medical images using the following file formats:
- DICOM 3.0 Part 10-compliant images
- DICOM 3.0 Raw Format (non-Part 10-compliant)
In addition, your application will also support all of the ImageGear supported formats - allowing you to convert an image of a different format to a medical image format, and vice versa.
Read and Write
When reading and writing DICOM image files, ImageGear MD provides the following capabilities:
- Display DICOM waveforms for ECG and HD modalities with image data set access
- Converts to and from other ImageGear supported formats
- Scans 9- to 16-bit grayscale images using TWAIN
- Supports monochrome, grayscale, palletized and true color DICOM images
- Reads and writes both Big Endian and Little Endian byte orders
- Auto-detects DICOM images with or without a Meta-info (Part 10) header
- Reads many out-of-spec images
- Reads 1-bit DICOM files
- Reads and writes multi-frame and Cine files
- Supports both Implicit VR and Explicit VR.
- Reads files with or without group lengths
- Loads and saves DICOM images without data element (DE) loss
- Preserves 16-bit grayscale pixels
- Reads RGB planar images
- Reads and writes JPEG lossy, JPEG lossless, RLE and JPEG 2000 compressed DICOM images
Display
When displaying DICOM image files, ImageGear MD provides the following capabilities:
- Real-time contrast adjustment using Window level, rescale, and gamma correction transforms
- Supports bit depths of 8- to 16-bits per pixel
- Offers pseudo-coloring of the entire image using either pre-defined pseudo-color schemes or your own customized LUTs
- Allows pseudo-coloring of only those pixel values that are over the high threshold, or under the low threshold (allows you to set the thresholds)
- Support for cine loop display of image sequences
Presentation State Objects
ImageGear MD includes support for Presentation State objects. These objects serve the following purposes within a DICOM file:
- Consistent display of images on various devices and media
- Storage of specific settings for display
- Storage of annotations and additional tags such as Patient/Study/Series information
Presentation State files do not contain images, but rather reference other images for which they provide the above mentioned attributes.
ImageGear provides full support for the Presentation LUT as well as the Grayscale Standard Display Function (GSDF. This allows consistent image display and contrast settings. Additionally, the Presentation State data set can be loaded and merged with the image data set.
Presentation State annotations are also supported. These include:
- Textbox
- Point
- Poly-line
- Spline
- Circle
- Ellipse
These annotations are converted into ImageGear ART objects during reading, and exported back into presentation state data during saving. Graphical objects can be filled or not. Additionally, annotations can be grouped into layers.
Image processing
When processing medical image files, ImageGear MD provides the following capabilities:
- Converts 16-bit images to 8-bit images and vice versa
- Enables contrast adjustment
- Tabulates up to 16-bit histogram data
- Converts signed to unsigned pixel data
- Swaps bytes of 16-bit pixels
- Supports convolve matrix, sharpen, smooth, edge maps, rotate, resize, flip and crop functions for 16-bit images
- Supports 16-bit images in many baseline ImageGear Image Processing API functions
- Enables shifting up or down of the High bit
- Returns the minimum and maximum pixel values from a chosen area of an image
Data Set
When working with the data set, ImageGear MD provides the following capabilities:
- Complete API for data set creation and removal
- Complete data set access, including the modification, addition and removal of data elements
- Complete support of SQ and multiple levels
- Enables customer-defined tags to be added to the data dictionary
Annotations
The AccuSoft Redlining Toolkit (ART) component is part of ImageGear MD. It provides the ability to add annotations to a medical image, adding many benefits for end users:
- Add arrows
- Highlight the areas of interest on a medical image
- Place notes or observations onto an image
- Block out (redact) sensitive areas
- And much more
Additionally, annotations can be merged with an image, or kept in a separate file and overlaid on the image at display time. In this way, the original image is never directly altered.
The MD (Medical) component is a full-featured ImageGear component. It supports the DICOM format, contains a custom API, and includes expanded image processing capabilities beyond those of the baseline ImageGear library.
The format support of the MD component includes loading and saving monochrome, palletized, and true color medical images using the following file formats:
- DICOM 3.0 Part 10-compliant images
- DICOM 3.0 Raw Format (non-Part 10-compliant)
In addition, your application will continue to support all ImageGear-supported file formats—meaning that you can convert an image of a different format to a medical image format, and vice versa.
ImageGear MD features:
- Read, write and display any DICOM image file
- Create DICOM files in any transfer syntax using single or multi-frame output
- Load and save monochrome, color-mapped and true color medical images
- Read and write any data element - public and private tags
- Convert between DICOM and other image formats.
- Create data sets for non-DICOM images
- Support for DICOM Presentation State objects
- Read 1-bit DICOM files
- Display and window leveling of 9- to 16-bit grayscale images
- Pseudo-color
- Cine loop display of image sequences
- Code samples to illustrate the feature set in various development environments
ImageGear MD also includes all the features found in ImageGear Professional Edition, such as:
- Support for the most popular file formats and imaging options
- .NET compatibility
- Native support for multiple bit depths
- High performance image processing and enhancement
- Common-sense licensing and deployment
- Comprehensive customer-focused support
- The AccuSoft Image Guarantee
ImageGear MD extends the toolkit's core functionality by adding support for the loading, storing, and manipulation of monochrome, palletized and true color medical images using the following medical imaging standards:
- DICOM 3.0 Part 10-compliant images
- DICOM 3.0 Raw Format (non-Part 10-compliant)
Preferred Support
This is the base-level support option and is included in the purchase price of AccuSoft's toolkit products. It includes an ever-evolving set of online support services that allow you to quickly find answers to your questions interactively from our knowledge-base and support forums, or to submit a request via our Web site. Users register to receive a user name and password, which provides access to this secure support section of our Web site. Preferred support is entirely Web-based and customer-driven with access to updates and fixes limited to version-specific items only.
Preferred Support includes:
- Electronic submission of product problems and questions, and the ability to update and track the progress of your case
- Up-to-date knowledge databases for our products that provide answers and fixes to commonly asked questions and problems
- Access to AccuSoft's support forums
- Comprehensive product documentation including the latest guides and manuals, technical bulletins, flashes, and release notes
- Product fixes, release and maintenance information
- Preferred Support provides access to ALL patches, fixes, updates, enhancements (including new versions/releases) that may be issued to the licensed product during your support term. Preferred support is entirely Web-based.
Premier Support
The Premier Support option provides a more personalized service level, and ensures prompt access to our expert technical support analysts.
Included are all of the Preferred Support services as well as access to AccuSoft's Customer Support Department during normal business hours (Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST (except on designated holidays). Premier Support is pro-active, with personalized contact via any/all methods (Web, email, phone, etc.) and includes all updates to new versions or releases.
Premier Support guarantees a response to your issue, and includes access to a browser-based, real-time, electronic support solution that creates an interactive customer service environment that is significantly more personal and effective. Should we need to investigate an issue within your own environment, our electronic support solution enables our support analysts to:
- Access your system to view, diagnose and solve your problems remotely
- Run applications to ensure proper installation and configuration
- Demonstrate AccuSoft products
- Download and install patches or updates to your system
- Upload your files for analysis
- Include other analysts for consultation
- Interact with you via text chat
- Show and annotate diagrams, schematics, and videos
- Record the entire support session for archival purposes