Study Share
or Create a new account

Viewing Images

The purpose of a teaching file is to organize and display educational images. Key images are imported from PACS or other sources, and grouped into cases, where they are annotated with captions and presented through the Case Manager.

This section describes how to select images for viewing, resize images, zoom and pan images, view images only, view annotated images, retrieve images in their original format, and save images to your hard drive.

Selecting Images

When a case is opened in the viewer the first image is displayed by default. A yellow box will appear around the thumbnail of the image that is currently being displayed. To display another image click on the thumbnail representation (as you move your screen pointer over the thumbnails a yellow box will indicate which image you will be selecting). You can also cycle through the images by clicking the forward/back icons on the image toolbar.

Case Viewer Controls

At the top of the Case Viewer, there are several buttons:

Window/Level (W/L)

If the button in the image toolbar is yellow then you can adjust the W/L for the image that is being displayed. Click the button and adjust the window/level by positioning your mouse over the image, holding down the left button, and moving the mouse up and down and side to side to adjust the W/L values.

Zoom and Pan

To zoom on an image click the button. Position your mouse over the image, hold down the left button, and move the mouse up and down.

To pan on an image click the button. Position your mouse over the image, hold down the left button, and move the mouse up and down and side to side to focus in on a specific section of an enlarged image.

Viewing the Series Behind an Image

If the button in the image toolbar is yellow then you can view the DICOM series from which the image originated. The button is active only if the series is available in the teaching file’s DICOM queue. Click the button to load the entire series in the case viewer. Once all the images load you can scroll up and down through the image stack by positioning your mouse over the image, holding down the left button, and moving the mouse up and down.

Negate Image

Click the button to negate the image.

Cine Loop

If the button in the image toolbar is yellow then the image is a cine loop. Click the icon to play the cine loop.

Display Annotated Image

If the button in the image toolbar is yellow then there is an annotated version of a particular image. Click this button to toggle between the original and the marked up version of the image.

View Series Information

If the button in the image toolbar is yellow then you can click it to view the DICOM series information associated with the presenting image.

Viewing Images Only

To reduce ambient light and create a more favorable environment for viewing fine details in the images, you enter “images only” mode by clicking “Full Screen” button:

This will display the images without the banner, thumbnails, or the case text. You can cycle through the images by clicking the forward/back icons on the image toolbar. To return to the case view, click “Return to case.”

Next: Using Training Mode