Posts by AndreasKnopke

K-PACS provides standard conformance to the
XRayAngiographicImageStorage -1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.1,
XRayFluoroscopyImageStorage -1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.2,
as well as
RETIRED_XRayAngiographicBiPlaneImageStorage -1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.3
SOP Classes as an SCP.

I personally do not now the Thosiba Infinix system but the DICOM conformance statement downloadable at Thoshiba's homepage claims standard conformance for XRayAngiographicImageStorage as an SCU.
Maybe there is a mistake in the AET/IP/Port settings or an unsupported transfer syntax is used although the default value for the Infinix system is "Implicit VR little endian" which is supported by K-PACS.

regards,
Andreas

Hello Rainer,

Have you tried to install K-PACS using a limited user account instead of an admin account? The user account should have at least write access to the registry.

I actually plan to switch from registry back to ini-files with one of the next updates.

Thanks for the report.

Andreas

Here is some information on the upcomming release of a CE approved commercially distributed version of K-PACS:

- target release date: 01.10.2005
- target pricing: 300 ? per single license
- some additional features: - direct reporting (SR conform), DICOM basic grayscale printing, DICOM worklist SCU implementation, integrated TWAIN interface, integrated e-mail client, basic MPR
- professional installation and maintenance support by the distributor
- planned features in future updates: 3D reconstruction, Q/R as SCP, ODCP database connection

The free K-PACS version will of course keep all already implemented features and will become updated as frequently as used to.

I can even imagine an equalization of the two versions concerning features. The main difference will of course retain: in many countries a certification by standardization organizations like ISO or FDA is mandatory for using soft- and hardware in health care. Unfortunately - in my opinion - many doctors are not sensitive enough to this reglementation. The additional features therefor serve as a sort of stimulus to buy the software instead of using the free one.

The X-PACS project is thought to be my contribution to the Open-Source community. K-PACS developement benefits from open source a lot (DCMTK, ezDICOM), so IMHO i think it would be fair enough to return somthing useful. I recently found a co-author who is currently working on a stable dicom library that can be linked to C++ and Delphi applications. I will release the ezDICOM based viewer component and a sample implementation soon. X-PACS is not intendet to be an open source K-PACS but a chance for others to develop a similar or better application without having to spend to much time with low level implementation.

regards,
Andreas

Hello Bob,

in case the "burn CD" button is grayed out k-pacs can not detect a winXP compatible CD-writer. K-PACS uses the build in driver provided by windows - there are some known incompatibilities to certain cd writers.

What you can do:
select the study you want to burn in the grid
click "export" and "burn on cd"
click "create cd project"

K-PACS will write all the image files and a viewer application to the folder you can read at "project folder".

Now you only have to burn the CD using a third party program like NERO or DeepBurner. Open this application and select the folder of the project you just created. Create the CD, but be careful that you copy the CONTENT of the Folder to the CD root. I mean you should create a CD with a structure like
D:\autorun.inf
D:\DICOMDIR
D:\K-PACS-Lite
...

not like
D:\CD1\autorun.inf
D:\CD1\DICOMDIR
...

hope I could help,
Andreas

Hello Ken,
thanks for the report. I will have a look and try to solve the problem.

Andreas

This option is not available any more. It is a relict of the limited functionality and stability of the viewer in early versions of K-PACS. The internal viewer is now stable and mighty, and controling external application without an interface is always very limited and clumsy.

regards,
Andreas

Hello jl,
I don't know why this happens but try to do the following:
copy the lines below into notpad and save it as "regupdate.reg"
Start the regupdate.reg and see if your problem is fixed.

Hope I could help,
Andreas

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp]
"checkstate"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\compress]
"jpeg"="ja"
"comp"="1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\crypt]
"crypt"="nein"
"pw"=""
"anonym"="nein"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\custom]
"RetrieveShowOrder"="2"
"thumbnails"="small"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\local]
"path"="C:\\kpacs\\"
"qraet"="KPServerQR"
"maet"="KPServerM"
"ibaet"="KPServer"
"imagebox"="c:\\imagebox\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\printsetup]
"View"="5"
"Title"="Department of Radiology"
"Printer"="4"
"PageSize"="0"
"ImSelect"="4"
"LayoutSelect"="2"
"ShowOverlay"="yes"
"ShowStudyInf"="yes"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\dicom-tools\qrscp\viewer]
"Localizer"="ja"
"UseExtViewer"="no"
"ViewerDir"=""

Just another thought:

K-PACS uses the OLEPRO32.dll provides by Microsoft to display different image formats in the image convertion module. Check if this dll exists in /windows/system32/ and if so, compare the version with the one from a system that converts images correctly.

regards,
Andreas

Can you send me an image where windowing is slow?
I have a T1, so size does not matter on my side.

Andreas

Hello Bob,

sounds strange, I have not received any notifications about install/update failures with V0.9.4b yet.
But anyway, what you can do is: doubleclick the kpinstall.exe (rar compressed container file), accept the license agreement and cancel the installer after all files are decompressed. Copy the k-pacs.exe file to your k-pacs directory manually.
Hope this helps, but I still don't know what's wrong.

Andreas

Image orientation will be displayed in one of the upcomming versions. I am also working on synchronization in compare mode.

Regarding the x/y position: it is easy to implement, but what for do you need it? If you can convince me of it's usefulness, I will implement it.

regards,
Andreas

Hello Mike,

I know what you mean. Currently, there are only options to split into equal sized screen sections. But with my implementation of hanging protocols I will work on subsplitting as well.

regards,
Andreas

Hello li,

the reason for this problem is probably a failure to write to the registry.
K-PACS stores some config data in the registry and needs the right to do so. Therefore you should install k-pacs on admin level. Furthermore, it is not recommended to use the same AET for different instances of K-PACS because a Move (Retrieve) request generally only transmits the AET where the images should be send to. If you do not provide unique AETs, your archive will never know where to send the images to.

regards,
Andreas

The speed of windowing depends on the size of the image and the power of the hardware you use. CR images can be very large, so with an older computer dynamic windowing could be sort of slow.

regards,
Andreas

Actually, the move request (retrieve) will be started with doubleclicking a study in the query grid or clicking the "viewer" button.

What does Conquest write in the server status section when you try to query and retrieve a study? Most of the time, a failed retrieve is caused by Conquest not recognizing the target AET. If this is the case you well find a communication log like this:

[CONQUESTSRV2] UPACS THREAD 1: STARTED AT: Tue Jun 28 11:45:33 2005
[CONQUESTSRV2] Calling Application Title : "KPacsMove "
[CONQUESTSRV2] Called Application Title : "CONQUESTSRV2 "
[CONQUESTSRV2] Application Context : "1.2.840.10008.3.1.1.1"
[CONQUESTSRV2] Presentation Context 0 "1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.2.2.1"
[CONQUESTSRV2] Presentation Context 1 "1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.2.2.2"
[CONQUESTSRV2] C-Move Destination: "KPServer"
[CONQUESTSRV2] Number of Images to send: 43
[CONQUESTSRV2] Host 'KPServer' did not accept the connection
[CONQUESTSRV2] C-Move (StudyRoot)
[CONQUESTSRV2] UPACS THREAD 1: ENDED AT: Tue Jun 28 11:45:34 2005
[CONQUESTSRV2] UPACS THREAD 1: TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 1 SECONDS

In the example case, Conquest tries to send images to KPServer, but communication fails. You have to make shure that Conquest "knows" the traget's AET, IP and Port. Compare the settings in "Known dicom providers" with the ones of your K-PACS installation.

Another problem that could occur is caused by space padded directory-names. K-PACS currently does not support spaces in it's installation directory. Example: 'c:\program files\k-pacs' will not work and lead to problems like failing retrieve or queries!. In this case uninstall K-PACS via system settings/software and reinstall it to a directory like c:\k-pacs\. The name of the imagebox folder is involved as well.

Btw.: the bugfix for Conquest retrieval problems, that I talked about in some older postings is already implemented in all new versions. Therefore I deleted this posting.

Regards,
Andreas

V0.9.4 does not support multiframe images.
V0.9.4.1 will, though. I finished implementig multiframe support and currently I am testing it for stability and compliance. The update will be available shortly.

Hello Mike,

see the new "How To" posting in "Features and Functions" forum. The Menu toolbar's entry "Split Screen" is currently disabled.

Regards,
Andreas

With V.0.9.4 there is a slightly different approach to compare series/studies:

1. to compare different studies multiselect the studies in the study browser (Shift+Click)
2. after clicking the viewer buttons you will see the first study. The second one is named in the tabulators below the thumbnail-bar.
3. To compare these studies in a 2:1 mode click the layout button in the tool bar and select 2:1.
4. The left tile-screen window will display the first study, the right one at first nothing
5. To add the second study to the right window click the tabulator with the name of the second study WHILE HOLDING THE STRG KEY PRESSED.
This will change the thumbnails to the series of the second study but leaves the main window alone.
6. Now Drag-Drop the desired series to the right window.

The main difference to the old K-PACS versions is, that you have to hold the STRG key down, if you want to add a different study to the current main display.

You can compare up to 6 different studies with a 3:2/2:3 mode. A synchronization is not implemented yet, but I am working on it.

Andreas

Hello there,
With Version 0.9.2.1 I changed the way of importing dicom files into the local db. The 'Import' button is now used for bmp/jpg to dicom import. If you want to import dicom files to view them with k-pacs, just click on "filesystem" in the query panel and select the directory of the files (e.g. root directory of your CD). After clicking on accept K-PACS will scan the folder and all subfolders for valid dicom files and sort them into series and studies. It will show you the found studies in the main grid. If the checkbox "Check every file for dicom compliancy" is checked, K-pacs will test if the file is completely compliant to the dicom 3 part 10 standard. This is recommended if you want to send these files into an archive. If K-PACS does not show any found study you can try to uncheck the checkbox and search again. Some dicom files fail the test (for instance hipax created images) but nevertheless could be shown and transferred.
Note that the filter options are working for filesearch as well!! So, click "clear fields" before importing from filesystem, if you want to see all valid studies in the folder.

UPDATE:
K-PACS V0.9.4 now provides a database regeneration tool (like efilm). Start it via "local settings - regenerate database". It is an independent process, so you can work with the already reregistered studies while the regeneration process works in background.