vdcmtovx − Convert DICOM Part 10 files into VisionX format

vdcmtovx [-H] [if=<input-filestem>] [ig=<input-list-file>] [ip=<input-list-string>] [of=<outputfile>] [e=<value>] [l=<value>] [h=<value>] [m=<value>] [-h] [-f] [-d] [-s] [-w] [-q] [-v] [zt=] [-i] [f=] [-N] [ie=] [-e] [-p] [nl=0]

Vdcmtovx converts one or more DICOM Part 10 files into VisionX format. The result is a 2D (for one image) or 3D VisionX file (or files, see below). Frame markers can be optionally added.

Files to be converted may be specified in one of four ways. 1) A single (complete) filename may be given using the if= parameter. 2) A sequence of files may be specified by a filestem given using the if= parameter and a range of image numbers specified by the l= and h= parameters (see below). 3) A file containing a newline-delimited list of complete filenames may be specified using the ig= parameter. 4) A string containing a newline-delimited list of complete filenames may be specified using the ig= parameter.

If a sequence of files is to be specified using the if=, l=, and h= parameters, is assumed that their names conform to the following convention. Each filename is composed of a filestem, an image number, and an extension (".dcm"). The filestem and image number must be delimited by a period, although there may be periods in the filestem itself. Consider the following three files as an example:

stem.22.dcm
stem.23.dcm
stem.24.dcm

In this example, the filestem is "stem", the image numbers range from 22-24, and the correct extension ".dcm" is present.

To convert a sequence of files, the filestem should be specified to vdcmtovx using the if= parameter and the range of image numbers, low to high, using the l= and h= parameters, respectively.

A single file (of any name) may also be converted. In this case, the l= and h= parameters should not be used and the value specified by if= will be considered as the complete filename.

An arbitrary sequence of filenames organized in a newline-delimited list may be passed to vdcmtovx in a file specified by the ig= parameter, or as a string in the shell, using the ip= parameter.

The default output filename is generated from scan date, time, and acquisition parameters included in the DICOM file. An example output filename is as follows:

dYYYYMMDD-hhmmss-sn-anCC.vx

where YYYY corresponds to the year, MM, the month, and DD, the day of the scan. Similarly, hh, mm, and ss, represent the hour, minute, and second, respectively, describing the acquisition time. Finally, sn is the scan series number and an, the acquisition number from the original exam (these may have varying width). The string CC (not normally present) represents 0-2 alphabetic characters needed to further differentiate filenames that have otherwise identical study attributes as described above. The default extension is ".vx", although this may be substituted using the e= parameter. Alternatively, the entire default output filename may be overridden, using the of= parameter.

Note that in some cases the output may require more than one file, as files are created based on image acquisition information. For this reason, it is recommended that the default output filenames be used when converting multiple files. The -d option may be used to disable this grouping logic. In this case, all input files are converted, in sequence, into a single output file.

The minimum pixel (voxel) value to be specified using the m= parameter. This is useful for clipping large negative background values, for example. The -h flag rescales all pixel (voxel) values to true Hounsfield units (HU).

If the file being converted does not contain any images, the DICOM information is stored in a VX_DICOM element with no image following. In this case, the DICOM header will display ’NA’ for image dependent parameters, such as resolution.

if=<input filename | input filestem>

specifies name of a DICOM Part 10 input file, or the filestem of multiple input files (see l= and h=).

ig=<input file list (file)> specifies name of a text file containing a

newline-delimited list of DICOM Part 10 input files (one per line).

ip=<input file list (string)> string containing a newline-delimited

list of DICOM Part 10 input files (one per line).

of=<output file>

specifies the complete output filename, overriding the default.

e=<extension>

specifies the output extension, overriding the default. l=<file> specifies the low image number to be converted.

h=<value>

specifies the high image number to be converted.

m=<value>

specifies the minimum pixel (voxel) value in the output image. The default is not to modify the pixel values.

-h

rescale pixel values to true Hounsfield units (HU).

-f

add frame markers, separating the individual 2D images.

-d

disable grouping logic. All input 2D image files will be grouped as one output 3D image file.

-s

generate separate files for each 2D image, rather than 3D image series files.

-w

overwrite existing file(s) that have the same name(s) as those to be generated. This inhibits the default behavior, which is to add one or more CC characters, as described above.

-q

quiet operation. Suppresses certain warning messages.

-v

verbose operation. Prints some runtime information.

zt=

group slice thickness tolerance in mm (default=0.0001)

-i

also convert image data in DICOM sequences (default is to ignore them)

f=<value>

start output image on frame f (default=1)

-N

use only new-line as delimiter in ip string

ie=<extension>

specifies the input extension, overriding the default of .dcm

-e

specifies input files have no extension, overriding the default of .dcm

-p

print warning messages

nl=

specifies the nesting level of sequences from which images are to be be extracted

vddcm(1), vdcminfo(1), vgeinfo(1), vpacs(1), vrawtovx(1)

W. J. Kostis, A. Biancardi