INTELEVIEWER 3.4.1 Release Notes

INTELEVIEWER^TM from Intelerad Medical Systems is an intuitive medical image viewing system that allows medical professionals to quickly retrieve and view images from their INTELEPACS^TM for either clinical or diagnostic review. INTELEVIEWER uses wavelet compression, an advanced image streaming protocol that speeds image distribution from server to user by progressively refining image detail as the images are retrieved.

Note: The INTELEVIEWER has replaced the JavaViewer product.

INTELEVIEWER contains a comprehensive set of tools including: Stack, Window/Level, Pan, Zoom, Series/Image Layout, Linear/ROI Measurements, Reference Lines, 3D Cursor, JPEG Image Export, Toggle Overlay, Invert, Reset Image, Rotate, Flip, and Header Information. If your INTELEPACS system is also integrated with a RIS or HIS, the Report Viewer provides access to impressions, current and previous reports, and order information.

In addition, you can work from different machines on your network without changing your modality- and interface-specific preferences. Your preferences will follow you and automatically be applied to the machine that you are logged in to on the network.

INTELEVIEWER integrates with the INTELEBROWSER^TM to provide an effective workflow solution. INTELEVIEWER can be launched by double-clicking the application icon on your desktop or by selecting it from the Windows Start menu (as you would any other Windows application). You can also launch it directly from INTELEBROWSER by clicking "InteleViewer" on the main menu, or select "View Images With InteleViewer" from the INTELEBROWSER study list once you have found an exam of interest.

Comprehensive information on using the INTELEVIEWER features can be found in the INTELEVIEWER User Guide.

To view the INTELEVIEWER User Guide:

Launch INTELEVIEWER.
Choose Help | InteleViewer User Guide, or press F1.

New Features

The following sections outline the major new features included in each of the last product releases.

Version 3.4.1

The following new features have been developed since version 3.3.3 of INTELEVIEWER.

Measurement Enhancements

You can now double-click a numbered measurement to add a label to draw attention to portions of an image.

Orthogonal Measurement Tool

The orthogonal measurement tool allows you to measure lesions using the longest diameter of the lesion as the reference length, and the widest portion of its perpendicular diameter as the orthogonal length.

Note: This feature may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Measuring Orthogonal Lines

Use two orthogonal lines to measure the width and height of a lesion. Once you have created the measurement, you can move and resize the lines separately or rotate the two lines together as required.

To measure orthogonal lines:

Choose Tools | Orthogonal Measurement or click the Orthogonal Measurement tool .

The cursor indicates that the orthogonal measurement tool is active.

Note: If the orthogonal measurement tool does not appear, select it from the Measurement Tool menu in the toolbar.

On the required image, click at the starting point of your measurement and drag. Release the mouse button at the end of your measurement. This is the reference line, with inward-pointing arrowheads.

A second numbered line appears automatically. This is the orthogonal line, with outward-pointing arrowheads. The orthogonal line is perpendicular to, and of the same length as the reference line with both lines intersecting at their centers. The length of the reference line and the length of the orthogonal line appear in the bottom left corner of the viewport.

Repeat step 2 for each measurement you want to take.

To manipulate an orthogonal measurement:

Click a measurement to select it.

The reference and orthogonal lines are highlighted.

Do one of the following:

To adjust the reference or orthogonal line length, click and drag either the start or end point.
To move the reference or orthogonal line, click and drag the line connecting the endpoints.
To rotate both the reference and orthogonal lines, click and drag either the start or end point of the reference line.

The line measurements update to reflect your changes.

Freehand Region of Interest Measurement Tool

Use the Freehand Region of Interest (ROI) measurement tool to draw a freehand outline around an area on an image. This tool can be useful, for example, to measure the area of a lesion.

To make a freehand selection, you simply click and drag an outline of the area you want to select. Whenever you let up on the mouse button, your selection will automatically close, forming a straight line between the start and end points. A numbered selection area appears, and the corresponding area (displayed in square centimeters for a calibrated image or square pixels for an uncalibrated image), mean, and standard deviation appear in the bottom left corner of the viewport. As with other measurement tools, you can have up to a maximum of ten measurement results on a selected image. To save your measurements, you can create a key image series. Measurements also appear when you print images or export JPEG images.

You can add to or subtract from the selection by enabling Add or Subtract at the top of the active viewport. When you add to a selection area, you can add anywhere on the image; it is not necessary for the added area to touch the original. When you enable either Add or Subtract, they remain active until you select another option.

Note: This feature may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Volume of Interest Measurement Tool

Use the Volume of Interest (VOI) measurement tool to draw regions of interest across multiple images in a series and calculate the total volume, in cubic centimeters, of the regions.

To use this tool, the series must contain a minimum of two images, and the image planes must be parallel and of the same separation; gantry tilts are not supported. Additionally, the series must contain calibration data from the scanner. INTELEVIEWER measurement calibration will not enable this tool on images that do not contain scanner data.

This tool functions similarly to the Region of Interest (ROI) tool, in that you use it to draw freehand selections of areas on an image. Enable New Volume to create a new volume and begin drawing regions. Each volume is labeled with a numeric identifier preceded by "V". Once drawn, the Add option in the control panel at the top of the viewport is enabled automatically so that you can stack through the images in the series and continue to add regions to the volume of interest.

You can modify a region by enabling Add or Subtract and then drawing to expand or reduce the size of the region. You can also select a region and delete it. Deleting a region does not delete the entire volume.

As with other measurement tools, you can have up to a maximum of ten measurement results on a selected image. To save your measurements, you can create a key image series. Measurements also appear when you print images or export JPEG images.

Note: This feature may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Roaming User Profiles

By using roaming user profiles, you can work from different workstations on your network without changing your preference settings. Your preferences will follow you and automatically be applied to the workstation that you are logged in to on the network.

Note: This feature may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Spine Labeling

Use the Spine Labeling annotation tool to add labels to vertebrae or discs on sagittal views of spine images. When working with images on intersecting planes, adding a label to the sagittal view causes them to appear in the same location on the other views (coronal andaxial).

Streaming Lossy DICOM JPEG

INTELEVIEWER supports viewing images that have been sent to the INTELEPACS server using the lossy DICOM JPEG protocol. These images have been compressed by the modality to optimize their transport over the network. They are streamed to INTELEVIEWER using JPEG 2000 compression and an advanced streaming protocol without any further degradation of image quality. The images are indicated by an amber triangle and the word "lossy" appears in the compression ratio in the overlay text.

3D Cursor Improvements

The 3D cursor contains thinner lines and an empty center for improved visibility when using it to locate a point in 3D space on a set of multiplanar images. Also, the color of the lines has been changed to yellow.

User Interface Preference Changes

The Show Toolbar at Location and Status Bar preferences are no longer set in the User Interface Preferences. However, you can still enable these options from the View menu.

Teaching Case Improvements

You can display or hide teaching case details to better see the associated image in the Teaching Case Viewer.

Printing to Film Changes

The Print Film Composer window has been renamed to Print Film.

The Print menu item Add Image to Film Composer has been changed to Add Image to Film.

Adjusting Images Using DSA

The Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) tool allows you to improve the contrast of x-ray angiography images for greater definition of vessel structures.

About Dialog Changes

The Features page in the About dialog nows displays the features in alphabetical order.

Version 3.3.3

The following new features have been developed since version 3.3.1 of INTELEVIEWER.

View Images from Remote DICOM Servers

The new DICOM Query feature allows you to view images from local storage, such as a hard disk or SAN, without requiring a connection to an INTELEPACS server. You can also query and retrieve images from any number of DICOM servers, including other PACS.

In the Search tool, you can select the DICOM servers you want to search, including your local workstation, the INTELEPACS, and any available remote DICOM servers. The DICOM servers available are determined by the list of servers configured in the DICOM Preferences.

Note: This is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Search Tool Enhancements

The Search tool has been completely redesigned for enhanced usability.

Deleting Images Stored Locally

You can delete studies and series from your local workstation cache. This is useful in a situation where a study is sent to your workstation in error or when a study has been sent to you for review and you no longer need it.

Local Storage Preferences Improvements

You can rebuild the local INTELEVIEWER database to remove any prior information and repopulate it with information on the DICOM image files currently stored on your workstation.

Note: This option is available only if the DICOM service is installed, enabling image data to be stored in your local database.

Advanced Layout Management Options

When defining a layout protocol, you can configure a fallback window level as well as apply rotation to the image and change the scale of the image relative to the viewport. The fallback window level defines the setting to use in cases where you have chosen From DICOM Data as the window level setting, but the image does not have any DICOM window level data available.

Export JPEG Images from the Teaching Case Editor and Key Image Composer

The ability to export JPEG images is also available in the Teaching Case Editor or Key Image Composer. You can export the currently- displayed image or all images in the series, as well as control image resolution and the view.

New Modality Preferences

Two new Modality preferences are available. The Show Report Viewer preference opens the Report Viewer by default when you open a study, and the 3D Cursor preference enables the 3D Cursor tool by default when you open a study. These preferences can be configured for individual modalities, or can be applied as the default setting for all modalities.

Teaching Case Improvements

When searching for teaching cases, the keywords entered will be remembered the next time you add case details. Previously-used keywords appear in the list as you type. You can choose existing keywords from the list or create new ones.

The Report Viewer is disabled when viewing cases in Training Mode.

The default access rights for Teaching Cases has been changed to Readable By All. The default access rights for Teaching Collections has been changed to Public.

Report Viewer Enhancements

When you choose the option of including all reports when exporting to PDF, the reports are listed in the same order in the generated PDF as originally displayed in the Reports Viewer’s List of Orders.

Queue Manager Enhancements

In addition to displaying the status of studies being imported to your local workstation from CD, and being exported to DICOM servers, the Queue Manager allows you to view the progress of the image data being exported or imported.

Patient Menu Enhancements

When you have several INTELEVIEWER windows open within the same session, the Patient Menu in each window will display the studies belonging to only the patient or patients whose associated studies have been loaded into the viewports.

Zoom Enhancements

The Zoom tool has been redesigned to zoom in and out on the selected area of the image, rather than zooming from the center of an image. This diminishes the need to pan the image after zooming to obtain the required view.

Improved Default Preferences

Extensive improvements to the default preference settings are included in this release of INTELEVIEWER.

Viewing Images

The default series and image layout will always be 1 x 1 the first time you start INTELEVIEWER.

The default image compression ratio values are now 10:1 for CR, DX, and MG, and 4:1 for the other modalities.

When you resize the window while viewing header information, the window size is saved and applied for your subsequent INTELEVIEWER sessions.

Thumbnails are enabled by default the first time you start INTELEVIEWER.

The default font size for overlay text in the viewports has been reduced to avoid the overlapping of overlay elements.

Manipulating Images

The image scroller is enabled by default the first time you start INTELEVIEWER.

The linear measurement tool is the default measurement tool the first time you start INTELEVIEWER.

The default tool line thickness for measurements and annotations has been reduced.

Additional Overlay Elements

There are ten new overlay elements that you can view: Additional Patient History, Anode Target Material, Body Part Thickness (measured in millimeters), Compression Force (measured in newtons), Filter Material, Frame of Reference UID, Name of Physician(s) Reading Study, Position Angles (primary and secondary), Position Reference Indicator, and Laterality (of the series or image).

MedView Integration

The INTELEVIEWER can be configured to launch MedView™ to use the nuclear PET/CT imaging software from MedImage.

Note:This is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Film Printing Improvements

You can enable the collate option to print each set of films separately, in sequential order. If the option is disabled, each film will be printed the number of times specified in the Copies field before printing the next one. This option is available when you configure the film printer parameters as well as specific print protocols for print jobs.

The Film Printers dialog has been merged with the DICOM Printer dialog in order to simplify the process of adding, deleting, and configuring DICOM printers.

Additonal DICOM Printer Configurations

The following DICOM printers have been validated to work with INTELEVIEWER and are configured by default in the application.

Agfa Drystar 5500
FUJI DryPix 5000

Version 3.3.1

The following new features have been developed since version 2.7 of INTELEVIEWER.

New INTELEVIEWER Workstation Product

INTELEVIEWER Workstation is a stand-alone version of the INTELEVIEWER diagnostic viewing software which you can use to view images from a local storage cache, such as a hard disk or SAN, without requiring a connection to an INTELEPACS server. INTELEVIEWER Workstation features full DICOM support, including DICOM Query/Retrieve, Store, and Print (including Key Images).

The software includes the complete range of INTELEVIEWER functionality, including thumbnail display, cine, linked stacking, MPR, annotations and measurements, key image creation, one-click CD burning, and more. Complete details on available features and how to use them is provided in the INTELEVIEWER product documentation.

Print to Film

You can print lossless images to film using DICOM-enabled printers. Once you select a series that you are viewing (including key images, if needed) and send it to the print composer, you can then manipulate images as you would normally in INTELEVIEWER before printing them.

Please refer to the INTELEVIEWER User Guide for the list of supported printers.

Teaching Case Improvements

Extensive improvements to the teaching cases and collections features are included in this release of INTELEVIEWER.

Teaching Case Viewer

When you open a teaching case or collection for viewing, it now automatically opens in a new window; the Teaching Case Viewer. Associated case details appear beside the image.

Keyword Improvements

When you enter keywords in the case details, INTELEVIEWER will keep track of them on a per-user basis. Existing keywords will be auto-completed as you type and previously-used keywords will appear in a list. The keyword list also will be available when searching for a teaching case.

Access Rights

You can assign access rights to teaching cases and collections to limit the ability of other users to view or edit them. When creating a case or collection, you can choose from the following access rights:

Private: Accessible only to the author. Other users will not see it listed in their search results and cannot access it. Note that, if a case is private, it can only be added to private collections.
Readable by All: Viewable by all other users, but can only be edited or deleted by the author.
Public: Can be viewed, edited, and deleted by all users. However, only the author can modify the assigned access privileges.

Search Improvements

Additional search fields are available for teaching cases and collections. You can search for them using the modification date and any (text- based) case attributes, such as Keywords. Also, the last-used search fields are remembered.

Body Part Field Improvement

The Body Part field has been renamed to Anatomy, and is a PACS-wide configurable list of pre-defined items. Therefore, the same categories will be available for all INTELEPACS users.

Improvements to Case Details

Additional fields in the Case Details panel are available. You can choose the category that best describes the particular case in the Pathology field. Also, you can enter details on the patient’s specific diagnosis in the Diagnosis field.

Training Mode

Use Training Mode to provide students with access to teaching cases and allow them to view them as if they were reporting them for the first time. For example, in a training exercise, the final report and some of the additional teaching case data initially would be hidden, and then could be accessed by the student to verify their findings.

Automatic Setting of Case and Collection Data

When creating a teaching case, the Clinical History and Clinical Findings fields will be set automatically using information from the RIS, if available.

Edit from Patient Search tool

You can edit a teaching case directly from the Search tool by selecting it, right-clicking, and choosing the option from the menu.

Add Full Series to a Teaching Case

You can add an entire series to a teaching case, rather than selecting single images. However, when doing so, annotations and measurements cannot be used.

Advanced Multi-Planar Reconstruction

The MPR Perspective tool allows you to perform more advanced multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) generation than the Orthogonal MPR tool. You can reconstruct views of the series along any plane, not just those orthogonal to the original data. The slice plane location and angle can be manipulated visually in the viewports, creating oblique and double oblique views, and the resulting view updates dynamically.

The resulting view, with configurable slice thickness and separation, can be stored on the INTELEPACS. Along with the result view, standard Sagittal, Coronal, and Axial views are generated in the MPR perspective view.

The MPR Perspective tool can also be used to create 3D reconstructions for series whose slice separation is not uniform, and whose image planes are not parallel (unlike the Orthogonal MPR tool). In this case, INTELEVIEWER will automatically select the largest block of images in the series that do meet these criteria and use those to generate the reconstruction.

Note:This is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Drag and Drop Images from INTELEVIEWER

You can drag and drop images from INTELEVIEWER to other applications. For example, drag and drop a thumbnail or viewport image onto your Windows desktop to automatically generate a JPEG image file and save it to the desktop. You can also drag thumbnail or viewport images into text editing applications such as Microsoft Word, or presentation applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint.

Series Text Annotation Tool

You can make text annotations across all images in a series. This can be useful, for example, in the case of spine labelling, where you can label vertebrae and disks on an image for a report.

Highlighting Additional Studies

When you open a study or series for comparison, the differences in date or identification information are highlighted in the overlay text. For example, if you open a prior study, differences in the date will be highlighted. This allows you to easily differentiate between the current and the prior study.

Print Margin Settings Saved

When printing images, the last-used margin settings on the Page Setup panel of the Print dialog will be remembered.

User Interface Improvements

You can minimize or maximize the Report Viewer and New Impression windows.

When opening studies using Advanced Layout Management, the matching protocol name will appear in the status bar.

Version 2.7

The following new features have been developed since version 2.6 of INTELEVIEWER.

One-click CD Burning

You can burn images to a CD along with a stand-alone version of the INTELEVIEWER that can be used to view them. Since the data is saved according to the DICOM standard, the images can also be opened by any viewing application capable of reading a DICOMDIR.

To do so, insert a blank CD in the drive then select the study or series you require, right-click, and choose Burn CD. When the CD is placed in a drive, INTELEVIEWER launches automatically and displays the studies that are available on the CD.

Export and Import DICOM Images

You can export DICOM images to a local or network directory (including removable USB keys). You can also choose to export the images with a stand-alone version of the INTELEVIEWER, which can be used to view them. To do so, select the study or series you require, right-click, and choose either Export DICOM or Export DICOM with InteleViewer.

The images will be written to the selected directory, and a DICOMDIR index file is created with the corresponding sub-folders for each patient, study, and series.

You can also open DICOMDIR files from a local or network directory (including removable USB keys) and view them in INTELEVIEWER

Image Routing to Workstations

Images can be routed from the INTELEPACS to your workstation in advance of viewing, as per the autorouting rules configured in INTELEPACS.

Images are stored in the directory specified by the Data Directory setting in the Local Storage preferences. Use the High Watermark option to set the maximum size of the cache. Set the Low Watermark option to indicate the size that the cache will be reduced to when it exceeds the High Watermark setting.

Note: Only the image data is stored on the local workstation. The DICOM header information is still retrieved from the INTELEPACS, even if viewing images available locally. Therefore, access to the INTELEPACS is required. A future release of the INTELEVIEWER will provide the capability for complete standalone operation.

The storing of image date in the cache on the local disk also allows you to load any previously-viewed images more quickly. You enable this feature in the Local Storage preferences as well.

Auto-Login

If working in a shared environment where multiple users need access to the same workstation, such as in a hospital ER, INTELEVIEWER can be configured to save a default user name and password so that users can automatically login.

Report Viewing Improvements

You can launch the report viewer from the Search tool, without first viewing images. The option appears in the context menu when you right-click a study or series.

You can change the layout of the Report Viewer by choosing View | Change View from the menu. The layout toggles between displaying all information on one page, or displaying tabbed pages.

The Patient Report Viewer option in the Utilities menu has been renamed to View Reports. If a user does not have permission to view reports, the View Reports button and menu option are hidden.

RF Fluoroscopy Field of View

Field of view shutters in the DICOM header will be applied to images. This is typically applicable to RF Fluoroscopy images.

Search Tool Improvements

Access to the Search tool can be disabled for selected user accounts and groups via the INTELEBROWSER Admin Tools. This feature is typically useful for users, such as clinicians, that are accessing needed images via the RIS and require restricted access to the entire PACS.

Note: Your user account must be configured to access this feature. Typically only the PACS administrator will have access to this feature.

The search results displayed in the Search tool are refreshed automatically as you work. This will allow you to see additional studies that match your search criteria as they appear in the PACS, for example.

Scale Rulers

When calibration data is available for a series, scale rulers appear indicating distance in centimeters. They also appear when you calibrate measurements on the image. You can configure the color of the scale rulers in the Appearance preferences.

Thumbnail Improvements

The thumbnail images are now highlighted when you select the corresponding image in the viewports, and images in the viewports are briefly highlighted when you select the corresponding thumbnail image.

Additional Support for Multiple Datasets

Studies containing multiple datasets from MG and DX modalities are now viewable as separate series in the viewports.

Greyscale Color Map Mode

In the Modality preferences, you can now choose to invert the greyscale/color map by default when images are opened. The available options are: From DICOM Data, Inverse of DICOM Data, Low Pixel Values as White, Low Pixel Values as Black.

This feature is also available when using Advanced Layout Management.

Note: Advanced Layout Management is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

General UI Improvements

The Close Selected Series option in the File menu has been removed.

The patient name from the currently-selected series is displayed in the title bar and the Windows task bar, which can be useful to differentiate between multiple INTELEVIEWER windows when they are minimized.

Version 2.6

The following new features have been developed since version 2.5 of INTELEVIEWER.

Desktop Launcher

You can now start INTELEVIEWER by double-clicking the INTELEVIEWER icon on your Windows desktop or the Quick Launch bar, or by choosing Programs | Intelerad Medical Systems | InteleViewer from the Windows Start menu. You are no longer required to start INTELEVIEWER via the INTELEBROWSER main menu.

Create New Sessions from within INTELEVIEWER

If your site contains more than one INTELEPACS, you can connect to them and start INTELEVIEWER sessions for each by choosing File | New Session. Each INTELEVIEWER window corresponds to the INTELEPACS that it is connected to; you cannot access studies from one INTELEPACS in another’s window.

Stacking Key Images and Teaching Cases

You can stack a key image series or teaching case in the viewports using the Stack, Fast Stack, Image Scroller, and Cine tools. You can also change the image layout for a key image series.

Note: Key images and teaching cases are optional features which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access these features. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Key Image Improvements

When viewing key images, the Image Number/Number of Images overlay text element displays, in brackets, the information from the original series in addition to the information from the key image series. Also, the 3D cursor will appear on key images when appropriate and multiple images of one key image series may display the cursor at one time.

Note: Key images is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Additional Information in Image Overlay

Additional DICOM information is available for display in the image overlay. For example, you can now view the modality manufacturer, operator name, spacing between slices, and the view position.

Overlay Text Improvements

When lossless quality is achieved on an image, the word “lossless” appears in parentheses next to the compression ratio in the overlay text.

New User Preferences

In the Advanced user preferences, you can use the Data Directory option to specify the directory where INTELEVIEWER will swap data to disk when the available system memory runs low.

In the Modality preferences, use Compact Image View Layout to choose whether or not to reduce the number of viewports in the image layout if you open a series that contains fewer images than are in the specified layout. In previous versions of the software, INTELEVIEWER compacted the image layout by default.

Remember Last Selected Tool

INTELEVIEWER will remember the last tool that was active before exiting the application, and this tool will be selected by default the next time you start the application.

Patient Search Tool Improvements

The resize bar has been moved to allow you to adjust the space between the Studies and Series lists.

The Custom Quick Search field settings in the INTELEBROWSER User Preferences are now supported and will determine which search fields appear in the Basic search options in INTELEVIEWER.

Quick Reload of Study

If refreshing the search results indicates INTELEVIEWER has received new information (such as additional images) for a study you are currently viewing, you can reopen the study to refresh it with the new data available on the INTELEPACS server. In previous versions of the software, you were required to first close the study and then reopen it to refresh the data.

To use this feature, the study only can be open in a single INTELEVIEWER window. If it is open in multiple INTELEVIEWER windows (including the Teaching Case Editor and the Key Image Composer) the image data will not be reloaded from the INTELEPACS.

Cine and Image Scroller Improvements

Cine pauses when you are using the mouse to stack in a viewport, and resumes when the mouse button is released.

When you exit INTELEVIEWER, the image scroller setting will be remembered and applied when you next start the application.

The Cine and Image Scroller tools now also follow the Image Interpolation While Dragging preference (in the Modality preferences). This can cause significant performance increases when using the Reduced Image Quality setting.

Smart Series Layout Hotkeys

The layout hotkeys no longer select a specific layout (such as 2 x 2) but rather select the desired number of viewports per-monitor and optimize the layout depending on the aspect ratio of the INTELEVIEWER window.

Version 2.5

The following new features have been developed since version 2.4 of INTELEVIEWER.

Start Multiple INTELEVIEWER Sessions

If your site contains multiple INTELEPACS servers, you can connect to them individually and run separate, simultaneous INTELEVIEWER sessions for each.

Orthogonal Multi-planar Reconstruction

You can create an orthogonal multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) series to view a 3D reconstruction of selected image data. For example, if you are viewing an axial MR, you can use the orthogonal MPR tool to create a sagittal and coronal series from the existing image data.

Export PDF Reports

You can export PDF files of reports which can then be printed or distributed via e-mail, and choose whether to include key images, impressions, and the clinical history information.

Note: The ability to include key images in the PDF report is only available if you access the Report Viewer through INTELEVIEWER.

Reassign Window Level Preset Hotkeys

You can now change the hotkey assignment for window level presets defined in the user preferences.

Voxar 3D Integration

The INTELEVIEWER can now be configured to launch Voxar 3D^TM to view a 3D reconstruction of the image data.

Third-Party Orthopedic Templating Integration

INTELEVIEWER can also be configured to launch the orthopedic templating applications Trauma-Cad^TM (from Orthocrat) and OrthoView^TM (from Meridian Technique Ltd).

Double-click to View Full-Screen Image

Double-click a viewport to enlarge the image and series to full screen (1 x 1 layout). Double-clicking again reverts to the original view. For multi-monitor systems, the viewport expands to fill a single monitor with the selected image.

Re-sizable Toolbar

In the user preferences, you can configure the size of the toolbar icons. This can be particularly useful when working on high-resolution images

Measurement Tool Improvements

When using measurement tools, the current tool stays selected after you create each measurement, allowing for easy creation of multiple measurements.

Additional Information in Patient Menu

The modality for each study listed in the Patient Menu appears before the study description. Also, the format of the study date and time reflects your Date Format and Time Format settings in the user preferences.

Sitecode Display

The code for the site to which you are logged in is displayed in the topbar of the INTELEVIEWER window. If you are running multiple viewer sessions, the site code for each window corresponds to the site to which you are connected.

Thumbnail Improvements

The thumbnail bar now displays images from the middle of the series, providing a more meaningful reference point. Also, when you drag an image from the Thumbnail bar to view it, it will be selected automatically.

Note:This is an optional feature which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access this feature. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

Image Quality Option Improvements

You can now choose Increase Series Quality from the Tools menu to incrementally increase the quality of the series. Also, the Lossless image quality option in the Image Quality menu has been renamed Series To Lossless.

Version 2.4

The following new features have been developed since version 2.3 of INTELEVIEWER.

Create Teaching Cases and Collections

Create teaching cases to save a selected group of patient images from multiple studies and add detailed clinical impressions and history information. Use teaching collections to create groups of teaching cases that have a common theme or purpose. You can save cases and collections on the PACS, as you do with a key image series.

Teaching cases and collections can be opened in INTELEVIEWER for viewing. Use the Teaching Case Editor to modify the images, case details, or associated collections at any time.

Search for Teaching Cases and Collections

The Search tool has been expanded to include the ability to search for and view teaching cases and teaching collections (in addition to patient studies). You can perform complex keyword searches using multiple criteria, including the case description, date created, and collection ID.

Click the Patient, Teaching Case, or Teaching Collection tabs to access the corresponding search filters. Select and open teaching cases or collections as you would any other study.

Synchronized Stacking

You can synchronize the stacking of multiple series that were imaged on parallel planes by using the Linked Stacking tool. As you stack a selected series, all other series will stack by the same real-world increments.

Cine Tool

Use the Cine tool to stack through images by playing them as if they were a movie clip. You can control the playback speed and direction, and use Play modes to automatically loop the images.

Scroll through Images

Use the Image Scroller to quickly move back and forth through a series to find the images you require.

Layout Protocols Enhancements

When creating layout protocols, you can use the Contains None Of study matching operator to match study descriptions that do not contain the specified keywords. Also, the Contains All Of, Contains Any Of, and Contains None Of operators now perform partial matches; the specified keywords do not require preceding and following spaces in the study description to match. For example, if the study description contains “abdomen pelvic,” the keyword “abdo” will now match.

Configurable Image Overlay

The type and location of image overlay information is configurable in the user preferences on a per-modality basis. You can choose the information you would like to display and the viewport location where it will appear.

Also, additional DICOM information is available for display in the image overlay. For example, you can now view slice thickness/spacing, referring physician name, echo number, and exposure time.

New Indicators on Overlay Text

Three new indicators have been added to the overlay text on the lower right of the viewport. A “K” icon indicates that the image has been added to a key image series, and a “T” icon indicates that the image has been added to a teaching case. These indicators will disappear once you restart INTELEVIEWER.

A “P” icon appears to indicate prior studies when using Advanced Layout Management.

Note: These are optional features which may not be available on your INTELEPACS system. Your user account also must be configured to access these features. For more information, contact your PACS administrator.

View Image Intensity Values

You can view pixel intensity values at the current cursor location, which may (or may not) have been calibrated by the scanner. For example, in CT studies the attenuation coefficient of different types of tissue is measured and displayed in Hounsfield units (HU).

Configurable Date and Time Formats

In the appearance preferences, you can customize the amount of information displayed in the date and time overlay text.

Note: The format of the date and time information is determined by your Windows operating system settings.

New Hotkeys for Series Navigation

Press Home to display the first image in the series, and press End to display the last image in the series.

Dialog Behavior Improvements

You can now continue to work with INTELEVIEWER when the User Preferences or Layout Protocols dialogs are open. For example, you could use the patient search tool to view study descriptions when creating layout protocols.

Simple Annotation Tool Renamed

The Simple Annotation tool has been changed to Text Annotation tool.

Studies/Series List Renamed

The Studies/Series List menu has been changed to the Patient menu.

New Hotkeys to Exit INTELEVIEWER

The keyboard shortcut to exit the INTELEVIEWER has changed to Ctrl+Q.

Version 2.3

The following new features have been developed since version 2.2 of INTELEVIEWER.

Improved Toolbar Icon

The Show Key Image Composer icon has been changed to improve clarity.

Improved Layout Protocol Editor

The layout protocol editor has been greatly expanded to support the creation of more complex layout protocols. When defining a layout protocol, you can now set the series viewport layout, and then match series description keywords and dataset indices to configure where each series is displayed in the viewports. You can also choose a default image layout, and customize various settings, including image interpolation and the default window level setting.

Import and Export Layout Protocols

You can export your layout protocols to share them with other users, or import existing layout protocols to use them on your workstation. Layout protocols are saved as XML files.

Capture Layout Protocols

Capture the current viewport settings to quickly save them as a layout protocol. Capturing layout protocols automatically loads the current settings into the layout protocol editor, which you can then use to refine the settings and save them.

Measurement Calibration

Use measurement calibration to define a pixel-to-centimeter ratio for a linear measurement. This ratio is used to determine the length or area, in centimeters or centimeters squared, of all linear and elliptical measurements on the image.

Image Page Forward

When using a multiple-image layout, you can page forward to view the next set of images, or page backward to view the previous set of images.

View DICOM Header

View the full DICOM header in the Header Information dialog. You can also copy the information to the system clipboard so that you can paste it into another application, such as a text file or e-mail.

Study Viewed Notification

Notification icons indicate when a series has been completely viewed, and when a study has been completely viewed.

Stacking and Fast Stacking

Choose between two stacking tools: Stack and Fast Stack. Use the Fast Stack tool to stack through images based on the speed of your mouse movement, or use the Stack tool to ensure that every image is displayed without skipping.

Delete All Annotations

Choose Clear Annotations Tools from the Annotation Tool menu in the toolbar to delete all annotations from the selected image.

Improved User Preferences Dialog

The options in the User Preferences dialog have been reorganized, and in some cases renamed, to improve the usability of the dialog.

User Preferences for Measurement and Annotation Tools

Customize the appearance of measurement and annotation tools, including the color of selected points, selected tools, and un-selected tools, and set the line thickness in pixels.

Version 2.2

Key Images

Save individual study images, or image sets, as a key image series to create scrapbooks. Quickly add and delete key images from a set, manipulate the images, add annotations, and save your adjustments when the images are sent to the INTELEPACS.

Create Annotations on Images

Create, edit, and delete text annotations and arrow pointers on study images. You can save annotated images as key images, export them as JPEG images, or print them.

Enhanced JPEG Export

When you export JPEG images, you can now choose to save the currently-displayed image, all images in the series, or a range of images. Additionally, you can specify the size of the exported image and preserve the original aspect ratio.

Printing Enhancements

You can choose to send a selected image or the current view of the application window to a paper printer, capturing any modifications you have made to the view such as orientation changes, window levelling, annotations, and measurements.

Automatic Window Level Adjustments

Automatically apply low-, medium-, and high-contrast window level settings to images when they are opened.

Version 2.1

Open Multiple Windows

Open additional INTELEVIEWER application windows to open new images without disturbing your pre- existing work. All of the INTELEVIEWER features are available in the new windows.

Per-Modality Series Layout

Configure series layout preferences on a per-modality basis.

Improved Multi-Monitor Support

Configure the number of monitors in your system setup in the User Preferences dialog. You can configure your system with a maximum of four monitors.

Advanced Layout Management

Automatically identify prior studies, open them, and load them in the viewports for comparison with the current study. When you open a study using this feature, the relevant prior study is automatically displayed side-by-side with the selected study.

Thumbnail Images

Thumbnail images are smaller versions of the images in a series, which you can use to visually select different series and display them in the viewports. Toggle the display to view or hide them, as well as resize, stack, and window level the images.

AquariusNET 3D Image Viewer Integration

If your INTELEPACS is configured to use AquariusNET^TM from TeraRecon Inc., use INTELEVIEWER to launch the AquariusNET client to view a 3D reconstruction of the image data.

Version 1.8

New product name: INTELEVIEWER
Improved manual layout with Drag-and-Swap of series
Loading of prior studies from study menu
Angle measurement tool
Integration with Reporting Worklist (optional feature)
Create impressions from the Report Viewer
Upgrade to latest version of Java and JAI

Version 1.7

New integrated Search tool
Ability to refine series quality incrementally

Version 1.6

Added the Report Viewer

Version 1.5

Reference lines
3D cursor for linking series
Site-wide defaults for user-configurable compression and Window/Level presets
Export of JPEG images
Updated toolbar icons

Version 1.4

User-configurable compression levels (per modality)
User-configurable initial image start number
Series download progress indicator bar
Improved wavelet streaming

Version 1.3.2-P1-B12

Linear and ROI Measurement tools
W/L Preset support (per modality)
Support for Windows 98
Image quality now refines while stacking
Overlay now displays image orientation information

New in 1.3.2-P1-B6

Automated upgrade mechanism. Windows users with non-Administrative privileges may install upgrades (if so configured).

System Requirements

For workstations being used for diagnostic review, the system requirements are highly dependent upon the specific features configured on your system and the typical level of activity. Intelerad will work with you directly to develop a diagnostic workstation specification that meets the exact needs of your site.

For workstations intended for clinical review, the following table outlines the minimum and recommended system requirements for using the INTELEVIEWER software.

Note: INTELEVIEWER must be able to connect to port 5022 of your INTELEPACS server. If you are using Windows XP with Service Pack 2, the firewall, which is enabled by default, may block access to this port. For information, contact your PACS administrator.

Clinical Review Workstation Minimum Requirements

Intel® Pentium® II or compatible 450 MHz processor
Windows Vista^TM, Windows XP, Windows® 2000, Windows 98, or Windows NT® Workstation 4.0 (with current updates installed)
100 MB free disk space
256 MB RAM
Video card supporting a resolution of 1024 x 768 with 8 MB of memory
3-button wheel mouse
High-speed Internet connection
Internet Explorer 5.5 (or later)

Clinical Review Workstation Recommended Requirements

Intel® Pentium® 4 or compatible 2 GHz processor
Windows XP Pro or Windows® 2000 Professional (with current updates installed)
80 GB Hard Drive
2 GB RAM
Video card supporting a resolution of 1280 x 1024 with 32 MB of memory
3-button wheel mouse
High-speed Internet connection
Internet Explorer 5.5 (or later)

Installation Notes

The initial installation of INTELEVIEWER must be completed while logged in to Windows as a user with Administrative privileges.

Note: This is not required if using Windows 98.

The INTELEVIEWER installs Java 1.6 and JAI 1.1.3 (Java Advanced Imaging), which are required for its use. This will not conflict with any other versions of Java that may be installed on your computer. You will be prompted to download the INTELEVIEWER (46 MB) from the INTELEPACS. You must accept two "Terms and Conditions of Use" licenses in order to proceed.

The default installation directory of the INTELEVIEWER is:

C:\Program Files\Intelerad Medical Systems\InteleViewer

For best results with Internet Explorer, ensure at least 500 MB of disk space is free.

Note: Dial-up users may avoid a potentially lengthy download by completing their initial installation from CD ROM (consult your PACS Administrator regarding this option).