Radiopaedia Blog: Uploader

UPDATE 9 April 2021: New version of plugin released! Please remove old plugin and install the new one to solve security issue preventing plugin loading and to use updated API.  

Features

  • quick upload of DICOM cases from Mac to Radiopaedia
  • create a draft case or add to an existing case
  • add multiple studies, series and images at once
  • high image quality with scrollable stacks
  • automatic anonymisation
  • automatic gender and age
  • optional day numbering for multi-study cases

Requirements

  • Mac running Horos or Osirix DICOM viewers
  • latest versions of these viewers require OS X
  • plugin may work with older versions

We recommend Horos (free) rather than Osirix Lite (free) to avoid "NOT FOR MEDICAL USE" appearing on images.

Installation

  • open Horos or Osirix on your Mac (don't have both open
  • download and unzip the Radiopaedia plugin
  • open plugin file using Finder
  • click OK to confirm you want to install the plugin
  • close Horos (or Osirix) and then open it again
  • plugin is now ready for use 

Image Preparation

Before using the plugin for a case it is worth considering if any of the DICOM image series could be quickly improved (eg. cropped, windowed, excess images trimmed) prior to upload. This can be achieved as follows (or see video above):

  • open the series you wish to edit in the case viewer
  • apply your W/L, pan, zoom, rotation, shutter etc. changes
  • for ultrasound it is important to remove identifying text using the shutter
  • if you want only some but not all images then use Command ⌘ K to select key images
  • click FILE > EXPORT > EXPORT TO DICOM FILES or shortcut Command ⌘ E
  • select 'all images of the series' or 'ROIs and key images only' depending on your desire
  • if using all images then the sliders can be used to trim excess images from the beginning or end
  • enter a 'series name'
  • click OK

Your new series will now appear as an extra series within the original study and is ready to be used by the Radiopaedia plugin.

Using the Plugin

  • navigate to database view
  • highlight the studies or individual study series you want to upload
    • highlighting the patient's name will upload the complete study
    • highlighting an individual series will upload just that component of the study
    • hold down Command ⌘ to select multiple series (eg. PA, axial T2) from within multiple studies (eg. x-ray, MRI) to control what you wish to upload
    • the plugin will automatically place the studies in chronological order irrespective of the order in which they appear in your database view
  • click PLUGINS > DATABASE > RADIOPAEDIA to launch plugin
  • a small delay may occur as the plugin analyzes your selection
Adding to an existing case

To add your selected images to an existing Radiopaedia case (public, unlisted or draft) simply enter the case rID number into the top of the plugin screen and click UPLOAD. You can find the rID for any Radiopaedia case by expanding the 'case information' box in the case sidebar.

Creating a new draft case
  • enter a case title (eg. Glioblastoma)
  • select a body system from the drop-down menu
  • patient's age at the time of the first study and gender will automatically appear (if known)
  • adding presentation and discussion text can help save time later but is optional
  • tick the add series titles option if the study has multiple series that are difficult to remember
  • tick the add day numbering option if the case consists of multiple studies separated in time
  • click UPLOAD to send the case to Radiopaedia

IMPORTANT: During case upload you can continue to use Horos / Osirix but you should not try to upload another case until the current one is completed otherwise this will terminate your upload. For an advanced workaround, see the Tips and Tricks section below.    

Authorizing the plugin 

The first time you upload you will be asked to log in to your Radiopaedia account and authorize the plugin. You'll need to create a free Radiopaedia account if you do not already have one. The plugin will remain logged in for all future uploads unless you click 'logout'.

Reviewing your uploaded case
  • on successful upload the case URL will be displayed
  • click the URL to open it in your web browser and log in
  • check to make sure the case is as you intended
  • edit the case to add study findings, planes, phases, quiz questions etc. 
  • publish the case (public or unlisted) to share it and use it in playlists
Draft case limits

Radiopaedia is all about sharing cases for educational purposes and therefore we encourage users to make their cases public. All users can have unlimited numbers of public cases and can publish their draft cases at any time. We recognize that some users may which to keep their cases private and therefore we offer unlisted cases for this purpose. Limits exists for the number of draft and unlisted cases you can have at any time as follows:

  • standard user: max 10 draft cases, max 10 unlisted cases
  • Hounsfield supporter: max 50 draft cases, max 100 unlisted cases
  • Curie or Roentgen supporter: max 100 draft cases, max 500 unlisted cases
  • Become a Radiopaedia Supporter

Tips & Tricks

  • hold down Command ⌘ to select as many relevant series as you like from as many studies as you like (eg. x-ray, CT, MRI) to ensure your case is detailed but efficient
  • if uploading a study with many series sequences or phases that are difficult to remember then use the add series titles feature to assist you
  • if uploading a study with multiple studies separated in time then use the add day numbering feature to help you know the timeline
  • consider storing the rID for successfully uploaded cases into your database comment field (or add the cases to an album) to keep track of those you have uploaded
Splitting a single study into two

Sometimes a single DICOM study may contain multiple series that are best divided into two studies on Radiopaedia. For example, you may wish to separate the non-contrast and contrast enhanced components of a single CT Brain study into two studies. There are several ways to do this (including on Radiopaedia itself) but with the plugin you can achieve this by highlighting the non-contrast series to upload that as a new case. Then copy the rID number of that new case, highlight the contrast enhanced series and upload that to the existing case.    

Simultaneous case uploads

If you are keen to upload multiple cases at the same time (not supported directly by the current plugin), then you can do this using Terminal to open multiple instances of Horos / Osirix by typing the command: open -n -a "APPLICATION NAME"

Feedback & Updates

If you have any feedback about the plugin you can add a comment below this post, or alternatively contact Dr Andrew Dixon via his profile page or via twitter. The download link on this page automatically updates with the latest version of the plugin. 

The code for this plugin is open source on GitHub and can be accessed here. Feel free to build upon it and let us know if you come up with any improvements that we should add.  

Plugin by Jarrel Seah, Jennifer Tang and Andrew Dixon

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