Chapter 12 DICOM Images

Some models are derived from image data, and it may be useful to show the model and image in the same space. For this purpose, a DICOM image widget has been designed, capable of displaying 3D DICOM volumes as a set of three perpendicular planes. An example widget and its property panel is shown in Figure 12.1.

The main classes related to the reading and displaying of DICOM images are:

Describes a single attribute in a DICOM file.

Contains all header attributes (all but the image data) extracted from a DICOM file.

Contains the decoded image pixels for a single image frame.

Contains both the header and image information for a single 2D DICOM slice.

Container for DICOM slices, creating a 3D volume (or 3D + time)

Parses DICOM files and folders, appending information to a DicomImage.

Displays the DicomImage in the viewer.

If the purpose is simply to display a DICOM volume in the ArtiSynth viewer, then only the last three classes will be of interest. Readers who simply want to display a DICOM image in their model can skip to Section 12.3.