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Uploading and Viewing DICOM Data

Step 3: Upload DICOM Data

LeaRes accepts:

  • DICOM: a folder of DICOM files (with or without a DICOMDIR), single .dcm/.dicom files, or a ZIP archive of DICOM
  • Volume formats: VTI, NIfTI (.nii, .nii.gz), NRRD, MHD
  • 2D images: PNG, JPG
  • Non-radiological data: XML (vital signs, ABG, spirometry, ECG) and PDF reports

Many patients at once. To load the CT scans of many patients in one command, see the Command-Line Client section.

From the hospital PACS. To pull a study from the clinic’s PACS instead of uploading files, see Importing Studies from the Hospital PACS.

Opening the Upload Panel

Upload always happens for a patient, from one of two places:

  • Patient preview: single-click the patient in the list; in the preview header, click the blue Upload Data button (upload icon)
  • Data panel: with the patient loaded, click the + button in the patient header (tooltip Upload events/acquisitions)

Upload Data button in the patient preview

The Upload Data panel opens on the left, with a single drop zone. There is no form to fill in: the type is detected automatically.

Upload Data panel

Uploading a DICOM Folder

  1. Drag the DICOM folder onto the drop zone. (Clicking the zone opens a file picker for a single file: a folder can only be dragged.)

  2. The Radiology Import panel opens and lists the files found.

    Radiology Import panel with a dropped folder

  3. Click the round Import Radiology Files button.

  4. If the folder contains a DICOMDIR, a dialog lists its series with their Patient / Study / Series descriptions. Tick the ones you want (the Select All / Deselect All button toggles all of them) and click Load N series. Without a DICOMDIR, all the files are uploaded as one series.

Single files (.dcm, ZIP, VTI, NIfTI, NRRD, MHD, PNG, JPG) dropped or picked in the Upload Data panel follow the same path through Radiology Import. XML files are uploaded as measurements; for a PDF you are asked which kind of record it is.

Rejected series. In the DICOMDIR series list, Presentation State series and series with fewer than 3 images are greyed out and cannot be selected.

Naming. The series name comes from the data and is set server-side: you cannot choose it during upload. To rename afterwards, use the pencil button (Edit CT Scan name) next to the acquisition in the patient preview.

Upload Progress

  • While the files are uploaded and processed, the panel shows a spinner with a status message (Uploading and processing files…)
  • Large datasets may take several minutes: keep the page open until it finishes
  • With a single series, the viewer opens on it as soon as the upload completes
  • With several series, a notification confirms how many were loaded

Tip: For large datasets (>1GB), compress to ZIP format before uploading to reduce transfer time and ensure all files are uploaded together.

Step 4: View Uploaded Data

Opening the Viewer

After a single-series upload the viewer opens by itself. To open a CT scan later:

  1. Single-click the patient in the list to open its preview
  2. Click the green Load CT Scan button on the acquisition

Double-clicking the patient loads all of its data at once.

Understanding the Viewer Layout

A CT opens in the four-pane (Quad) layout:

  • 3D view (top-left): volume rendering or 3D models
  • Sagittal (top-right, Sagittal-XZ plane)
  • Coronal (bottom-left, Coronal-YZ plane)
  • Axial (bottom-right, Axial-XY plane)

Viewer in the Quad layout

In the 2D views:

  • Mouse wheel: scroll through slices
  • Left-click drag: adjust window/level (contrast); the result is applied to all three slice views
  • Shift + left-click drag or middle-click drag: pan
  • Right-click drag: zoom
  • Reset camera: the button on the 3D view resets the 3D camera

Adjusting Contrast

Besides left-click dragging, contrast is set by choosing a tissue preset from the Preset WW/WL dropdown in the viewer toolbar. There is no free-form window/level slider.

Ten presets are available: Lungs, Blood, Blood+contrast, Cardiac, Vascular, Airways, Nasal, Soft tissue, Bone, Skin. Each applies a matching window width/level plus a colour transfer function, to all views at once.

Tip: Separately from the presets, the rendering-mode selector offers MPR, MIP, MinIP, VR and CPR — useful when a single slice view is not enough.