Research-based MRI image analysis often requires in-house programs to be written to perform specific tasks. High-level programming languages such as IDL and MatLab are two powerful tools used for such a purpose. But what about quick and simple DICOM viewing? For example, want to:

• view a data set?
• investigate the header information?
• anonymise a data set?
• draw a region of interest and get some descriptive statistics?
• get a line profile?
• convert the file type?
• et cetera…

Though high-level programming skills are very valuable, sometimes getting the job done quickly can be more important. For some, writing a program to complete the task in hand would mean embarking on a steep learning curve and a temporary drop in productivity. There are a number of freely available DICOM viewers to quickly perform a large number of image processing tasks. Here are three.

1. ImageJ.
   

   http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/

   ImageJ is a Java-based open-source program. As well as a wealth of standard functions, users can write plugins to perform new operations on image data. For this reason, it’s a powerful tool; if you need a specific functionality for the analysis of your data, try the ImageJ plugins list. Someone may have already written the tool you need. It’ll run on Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X and Linux. In terms of power, ImageJ beats all other freely available tools I’ve come across.

2. Osiris.
   

   http://www.sim.hcuge.ch/osiris/

   Osiris is an easy to use program with a number of basic ROI tools, and some more complex tools such as maximum projection reconstruction. It has been the preferred choice for simple DICOM image viewing and ROI operations for a number of my colleagues. It will run on Windows and the Mac.

3. Sante DICOM Viewer.
   

   http://www.santesoft.com/dicom_viewer_free.html

   SanteViewer seems to be my first choice when I simply want to double click on a DICOM image to see it, or manually check some header information. A nice feature of this tool is the open-by-header function, by which you can browse a data set with previews of the image header data. However, it does much more, and a fully-featured time-unlimited demo may be downloaded, in which a demo banner is over-laid on images. A freeware cut-down version (the Quick Viewer) is also available. (Sante Viewer tools are Windows only.)

Do you use other DICOM image processing tools?
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