Widmer WR: Acquisition hardware for digital imaging. Wright MA, Ballance D, Robertson ID, Poteet B: Introduction to DICOM for the practicing veterinarian. Hosch RE, Rivard AL: Evaluation of self-contained PACS viewers on CD-ROM.

In combination with PACS-freeware, this allows veterinary practices to run a low-budget digital imaging environment. Based on the results of this study, veterinarians will find suitable free DICOM-viewers for their individual needs.

An increasing number of tools did not necessarily impair user-friendliness, if the user interface is well designed.

The DICOM-viewers offered between 20 and 44 tools of the predefined important tool set and are sufficient for most veterinary purposes. The ranking based on functionality and user-friendliness of 14 core tools (mean score in brackets) was as follows: 1. For each viewer, the total number of a predefined set of 47 important tools was counted. Criteria were functionality and user-friendliness. In these DICOM-viewers, 14 core tools were tested and rated on a score from 1 to 10 by multiple observers with different levels of training, using studies of four imaging modalities. Based on this, eight viewers were found: Ginkgo CADx, Horos, K-PACS, MAYAM, MITO, OsiriX Lite, RadiAnt, Synedra personal. Inclusion criteria for the evaluation were free availability, PACS (picture archiving and communication system)-connectivity, and stand-alone and client-based software. The functionality and user-friendliness of various DICOM-viewers from the internet were analyzed and compared. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate free DICOM-viewer software for veterinary purposes. As Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)-viewers for veterinary use do not require medical device approval in many countries, freeware viewers might be a practical alternative. There is increasing prevalence of digital diagnostic imaging in veterinary medicine with a progressive need to use medical imaging software.

Osirix lite free