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I am trying to compare datasets of DICOM images so that I can choose a dataset best suited for volumetric rendering in opengl. I need DICOM images with r,g,b and alpha channels.

So, basically, I want a application like irfanView in ubuntu in which i just need to click a point and i get the corresponding pixel information.

I dont want some c++ library like itk or dcmtk. i dont know how to do the same thing with imagemagick. Does anyone know of such an application?

Some progress: I use dcmtk(although i would prefer something with a gui) and use this command:

$ dcmdump .dcm A huge output comes which looks like:

Dicom-File-Format

Dicom-Meta-Information-Header

Used TransferSyntax: Little Endian Explicit (0002,0002) UI =MRImageStorage # 26, 1 MediaStorageSOPClassUID (0002,0010) UI =LittleEndianImplicit # 18, 1 TransferSyntaxUID

Dicom-Data-Set Used TransferSyntax: Little Endian Implicit (0008,0005) CS [ISO_IR 100] # 10, 1 SpecificCharacterSet (0008,0008) CS [ORIGINAL\SECONDARY\MPR] # 24, 3 ImageType (0008,0016) UI =MRImageStorage # 26, 1 SOPClassUID (0008,0018) UI [1.3.12.2.1107.5.2.4.7259.20010531113752000010358] # 48, 1 SOPInstanceUID (0008,0020) DA [20010302] # 8, 1 StudyDate

and so on.... till...

(7fe0,0010) OW 0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000\0000... # 131072, 1 PixelData

which is the last line in that output. That is the information I am looking for. but how do i extract the complete pixel data and not just a tiny sample of it?

Spectre
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  • Are you looking for a ready-made application supporting this feature, or do you want a library that you can plug in to your own "dataset selection" application? – Anders Gustafsson Jun 13 '12 at 09:29
  • A ready-made application so that I can quickly see what the rgba values are at different pixels... just like in irfanview if possible – Spectre Jun 13 '12 at 09:47

1 Answers1

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I am not aware of any free DICOM image editor with this kind of functionality, so I recommend that you do this in a two-step approach:

  • Use a tool to dump your DICOM image to a regular image format, for example dcm2pnm that is available as a precompiled binary in the DCMTK binary distribution (at least the Windows distro).
  • Use whatever tool for image viewing and editing you prefer (IrfanView for example) to examine the dumped image.
Anders Gustafsson
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  • @Kishore Just to confirm, you _did_ try the _dcm2pnm_ application for dumping the image? In your edited text above, you have applied _dcmdump_. As far as I know _dcmdump_ does not have enough functionality to dump in regular image formats like JPG, PNG, BMP. You would need _dcm2pnm_ for that. – Anders Gustafsson Jun 13 '12 at 11:15
  • Hi, well, I did dcmdump .dcm +L That prints out all the information in the .dcm file. But now, I have a different question if it would interest you. The DICOM files are fundamentally JPEG files. JPEG files are collections of either RGB values or YBR values. JPEGs clearly dont provide any information about the transparency of a pixel. In that case, how do I render these images in 3D and expect the images to be sort of translucent so that I can see all the important features contained within the outer layer? – Spectre Jun 13 '12 at 11:55
  • I believe that the ARGB scheme should not be used at all in DICOM images, it was apparently [retired from the standard](ftp://medical.nema.org/medical/dicom/final/cp259_ft.pdf) around 10 years ago. I am not sure if you can separately dump the different layers of the DICOM images; in that case this could perhaps be an option? – Anders Gustafsson Jun 13 '12 at 12:21