The Unarchiver and OsiriX

[davowolf]

I have a CD of an MRI scan and am told need these two programs to visualise.

Where best to download from ?

 

[ferrarr]

Best option is to go right to the developer site, if applicable.

https://theunarchiver.com/
http://www.osirix-viewer.com/

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Google yields the results as..The Unarchiver and OsiriX

 

[IWT]

I have a CD of an MRI scan and am told need these two programs to visualise.

Where best to download from ?

Hi davowolf

NB - I'm a professional user of OsiriX, that is, I have to use it as part of my job (even though technically retired!). The "free" version of OsiriX is very hard to get and very nearly next to useless because it prompts you, almost by the minute, to upgrade to Osirix MD.

The MD version is horrendously expensive (around £750/year for a one-Mac license).

The good news is that you don't need it!

On your CD, the MRI scan images are in DICOM format. All you need is a DICOM viewer/reader. Sure, OsiriX is that and much more, but there are free alternatives around - or those that permit a 30 or 60 day free trial.

You might consider:

Horos:https://www.horosproject.org
RadiAnt DICOM viewer (Google for instructions and download sites)

MicroDicom - this free and widely respected, but it may only be available for Windows. There may be a Mac version; not sure. But, at the end of the day, if all you want is to view an MRI scan, then find a friend with Windows and get them to download it:

http://www.microdicom.com. and. http://www.microdicom.com/downloads.html

Hope this rather convoluted post helps

Ian

 

[davowolf]

Thanks all. Ian, so if I use Horos (RadiAnt being an alternative but seems to need Winebottler as well to install it); do I also need 'theunarchiver' ?

 

[MacInWin]

That depends. The Unarchiver extracts files from compressed storage. So, on the CD the images are compressed to fit. You need something to uncompress them to be usable. What is the extent on the files on the CD? macOS can natively extract some compressed files. The Unarchiver is just an app to do that for a broader range of files.

 

[IWT]

Jake

I suspect that the DICOM files on the CD will be in a form which allows a DICOM viewer to access them directly. It would be unusual for them to be compressed; or at least in a compressed format which required them to be uncompressed before a DICOM viewer could read them.

Of course, I could be wrong and, in any case, have no direct knowledge of how this particular CD was made.

But I get given a lot of CDs with MRI images to interpret and, normally, they are easily imported directly into the DICOM viewer. It carries out any decompression, I presume. I'm obliged to use OsiriX MD - to my considerable personal cost - ££££££s

Ian

PS Unarchiver is a fine product and maybe it will be necessary??

 

[MacInWin]

Ian, I was just going on the fact that he was initially told to use both, which seems to imply that OsyriX cannot expand whatever is on the CD. But if the images aren't compressed at all, then they would not need to be decompressed.

 

[davowolf]

OK I downloaded theunarchiver followed by Horos and they're both sitting in my Applications folder.

But when I double click on the CD icon on my desktop (its an external drive btw, to my mini). nothing seems to happen.

How do I get it to run ?

 

[IWT]

Hi again.

What I'd do is open Horos; in other words get it up and running.

Then from the top menu bar, find the "Import" function. Click on that and direct it to your CD by navigating to it.

If it works like most DICOM viewers, it will find the DICOM files itself within the CD and offer you the choice of copying them into Horos or viewing from the CD. Always import. It's much faster.

Once imported, the image files should appear in the Horos Database.

To view them, you click on the identifier (probably somebody's name), and indented beneath the name will be all the sequences: something like - T1W Axial; T2W Coronal; FLAIR Sagittal. It all depends on what part of the body has been imaged.

Caveat: although Horos is widely used and respected in the medical community, I have no personal experience using it. But the basic premise of all viewers is that you open them first, then direct them to the source for import.

If any part of this doesn't work, don't hesitate to come back to us. There are other options, such as opening the CD and locating the DICOM files manually. That shouldn't be necessary though. Over to you.

Ian

 

[davowolf]

Heros opened as suggested .....

But its asking for a password....the one supplied by the H with the disc doesn't work.

 

[MacInWin]

Then you have to get back to the H and get the correct password. The zip file with the images is protected and NOTHING will open it with that password.

 

[IWT]

And I advise you to move the Horos app to Applications.

I know you indicated in your post #9 that Horos and Unarchiver were both in your Applications Folder; but that message seems to indicate otherwise. You will know, of course, as you either put it there or not

As regards the password; that's a new development. I didn't know about that. As Jake says, you need the correct PW.

But what bothers me is that the PW may be unique to OsiriX. Yes, contact hospital and verify 1. The PW is correct and 2. Ask if they used OsiriX to create the CD. 3. Is the PW unique to OsiriX? Which if the case, is slightly naughty because it may force you to get OsiriX and, anyway, as you are clearly the legitimate owner of the CD, a PW was unnecessary.

Nothing is simple in life, eh?

I'm so sorry you've had all this bother.

Ian

 

[IWT]

Oh, one thing more - if you are forced to get OsiriX Lite (the free version), I suggest you get it from the developers' site and there is a part of the site dedicated to patients who only want to view a CD; but they don't advertise it very well!

It can be found here: http://www.osirix-viewer.com/osirix/patients/

It works in exactly the same way as Horos. Download, put in applications, open it, Import, direct import to CD.

Ian

 

[davowolf]

1 That dialogue box I posted though, seemed to come from Horos, as if that program required it and not the CD stuff ?
2. Both Horos and the unarchiver were indeed in the Applications folder !
3. You talk of OsiRiX Ian, but I didn't d/l that; just theunarchiver and Horos... ?

 

[IWT]

1 That dialogue box I posted though, seemed to come from Horos, as if that program required it and not the CD stuff ?

I agree. That may be the case. Don't know why. Can't figure that out.

2. Both Horos and the unarchiver were indeed in the Applications folder !

Thought as much. Fine.

3. You talk of OsiRiX Ian, but I didn't d/l that; just theunarchiver and Horos... ?

Yes, I know. We come full circle. The point I was making was that OsiriX Lite, the free version, doesn't play nice; but I did a lot of research on your behalf - that's what we are here for after all.

I emailed colleagues and phoned others and it turns out that there is a free "patient" version of OsiriX, not widely known or advertised, which allows an individual patient (let's say, you) to download a version that permits opening a CD and looking at the images.

So, I still advise contacting the hospital first with the questions I mentioned. Especially confirming their PW.

If it comes to the bit, you may be required to download OsiriX and, if that proves to be the case, download the "patient" version: http://www.osirix-viewer.com/osirix/patients/

And follow the instructions I posted above - exactly as you did for Horus.

(Just as an aside; I checked now. The full version of OsiriX MD costs £665 for one year, £1063 for two years plus £95/year for online support. And that's my discount being a user of same).

Ian

 

[davowolf]

Huge thanks Ian.... I'll try to find time tomorrow to look and follow your advice.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Heros opened as suggested .....

But its asking for a password....the one supplied by the H with the disc doesn't work.

I have a quick suggestion here.... in that screen cap, if that file path happens to be your medical record number, you may want to mask that in the interest of protecting your privacy.


It's odd to me that you are getting a prompt for a password to open the file. Who told you to use Unarchiver and Osirix to view it? Did that CD not come with embedded DICOM viewing software on it, even if it's Windows-based? Take a look at the folder... do you see a file titled "autorun.inf" or any .exe files? If it was created by a tech off the MRI scanner, then likely not. If it was made with a PACS system's own software, then it likely does. I'm betting that there is a viewer on the disc, and the file is password-protected with a standard password that the embedded viewer "knows" already. If the latter is the case, I'd also wager that calling the hospital won't help. Even if the IT staff knows it, they aren't going to give it out.

 

[IWT]

@Lifeisabeach

I agree with all you've said.

From the very first post, the OP stated that he was told he needed Unarchiver and OsiriX. (Unarchiver was misinformation, I'm sure). OsiriX only runs on an Apple system which tended to imply that Windows platforms might not read it.

But as I pointed out, that need not be the case at all and advised that MicroDicom - a Windows-based viewer - and free, might do the trick if the OP had a PC or a friend with one. And, as you also say, there might be a Windows-based DICOM viewer embedded in the CD. Windows machine needed for that too.

As regards the PW, I again agree with you; but remember the OP was given a PW by the hospital.

Horos is Apple based and normally no problem. But there were PW problems.

The latest advice was to install the patient version of Osirix - a version I didn't even know about and only surfaced after much discussion with colleagues of mine and some digging around. And OsiriX was recommended by the hospital.

Whether the PW problem would be overcome, I cannot say. Surely it's up to the hospital to give the OP his/her legitimate right to view their images without all this hassle?

Anyway, thanks for your insights.

Ian

 

[davowolf]

Waiting for a rely from Gina at Holos (customer services) who I've emailed this thread, if she can access it. She does confirm however that no p/w is required !

Well gina wanted $79 for a tutorial session to fix this so I'm not pursuing that right now.