PACS Systems and Viewing Software

Purchasing new digital imaging equipment can be very exciting. Images rich in detail, immensely helpful to the diagnostic process are produced, but the experience can be frustrating if images can only be viewed using workstations supplied with the equipment. Each vendor uses different software, each machine is located in a different place around the practice, and clinicians often need to see images from different scanners on one workstation, or to browse prior studies.

OsiriX has been designed by medical people as a tool to help those who practice. It uses every aspect of the Mac operating system to produce an elegant, easy-to-use software application, freely available under an Open Source licence from www.osirix-viewer.com/Downloads.html. There is a charge for the heavyweight 64-bit version and the lightweight iPhone app.

It can be used to view and manipulate 2D x-ray images, 3D MRI and CT scans, 4D cardiac-CT series, and even 5D fused images such as cardiac-PET-CT. Images can easily be anonymised for use in presentations or training materials.