DICOM Image Viewing via HTML5 Canvas and 8-Bit Channel Splitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical image viewers for DICOM format images face challenges in compatibility across various operating systems, including old systems like Windows XP, and require user permission to install software, making them difficult to maintain and extend, especially when new technologies like web viewing are introduced.
Innovation Solution
A method is provided to convert 16-bit DICOM images into HTML-compatible formats by splitting pixel data into 8-bit channels, losslessly compressing them, and rendering them in an HTML5 canvas, allowing the images to be viewed on any system without requiring user permission, using a portable HTML5 browser packaged on a computer readable medium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a DICOM viewer application is created to run on old operating systems like Windows XP, then compatibility with legacy systems is improved, but the application becomes difficult to maintain and extend with new technologies
Solution Approach 1:
The solution segments the viewer functionality into two independent parts: a legacy Windows XP application that handles file access and a modern web-based application that handles image rendering. The legacy application converts DICOM images to standard formats and stores them in a web server directory, allowing the modern web application to render images using contemporary technologies without requiring maintenance of the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
A web server acts as an intermediary between the legacy Windows XP application and the modern web-based viewer. The legacy application communicates with the web server to store converted images, and the web server provides these images to the web-based viewer through standard web protocols, enabling communication between incompatible systems.
2Ease of operation
If a media viewer is created to run directly from media without user permission, then ease of deployment is improved, but the application cannot be updated or extended
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static media-based deployment to a dynamic web-based deployment. The legacy application on Windows XP can continuously update image files in the web server directory, and the web-based viewer automatically reflects these updates without requiring reinstallation or user permission changes, enabling both ease of deployment and continuous updates.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a second web-based application is created to support new technologies, then support for new technologies is improved, but development effort is duplicated
Solution Approach 1:
The solution extracts the modern technology rendering functionality into a separate web-based application that can be independently developed and updated. The legacy Windows XP application retains only the essential function of accessing and converting DICOM files, while the web-based application handles all modern rendering requirements, eliminating the need to maintain complex legacy code for new features.
Data Source
AI summary
A method facilitates viewing of DICOM medical images by providing a 16-bit DICOM image on a computer readable storage medium, text-converted metadata of the DICOM image and an html-compatible conversion of the DICOM pixel data on a computer readable storage medium. Pixel data of the DICOM image is converted by dividing the 16-bit image into two 8-bit color channels stored in an image referenced by a web page using a uniform resource locator. The two 8-bit color channels are later reassembled within a portable web browser according to instructions set forth in computer readable program code associated with the web page.