Loading a scene
Loading files
There are two ways to open files in Slicer:
- Using the menu File | Add Data
- Press the first button on the toolbar, which contains the text DATA
The window that opens is:
The options are: Load a single file or load the contents of a folder. Selecting the option of Choose directory to add shows us all the files contained in the folder, when pressing the button we have to indicate the path on the hard disk of the directory where our files are and press the option Choose. The window will then display the Slicer compatible files contained in the folder:
By default all files are selected. All of them can be selected/unselected at the same time with the checkbox immediately below the Choose directory to add button, marked in green in the image. If we want to select only one file, the quickest way is to uncheck all of them and then check the box next to the file name you want to select. Once this is done, pressing the OK button will load the file into Slicer.
If you don't want to use any of the files in the folder or you want to select another folder, using the Reset button, the displayed list of files will be deleted.
PACS Servers
The [PACS] system (Picture Archiving and Communication System) allows the storage and distribution of medical imaging. It has its hardware part, which are the hard disks on which the information is physically stored and the computer that hosts them, and its software part, which is responsible for managing and transmitting the information among users. These systems are installed in hospitals, facilitating access to medical imaging for any professional involved in the treatment of the patient, allowing access to both the history and all sets of images resulting from the medical tests that have been performed.
The PACS system works according to the medical imaging standard DICOM (Dicom Imaging and Communications in Medicine). This standard allows compatibility between medical images obtained by different scanners (although manufacturers introduce small variants in their models, compatibility is maintained), software and printers (radiological printers, for example).
To access the files stored in a PACS server, it is necessary to be registered on it and have access to it.
Drag and drop
Another quick way to open files is, from the operating system's file explorer, to drag the file you want to open to the Slicer window and drop it there.
Tipos de fichero
Volume
Structured voxel grids..
NRRD
Corresponds to " N early R aw R R aster D ata, is a file format for the representation and processing of raster images in 2 and 3 dimensions.
MHA/MHD
They are two meta image formats, containing both image information and text tags.
MHD
It is a meta image format, mainly used for text tags in medical imaging. Developed by [[1]].
DICOM
The standard medical imaging format par excellence, supported by the vast majority of manufacturers and software.
Model
Consistent of polygonal meshes and 3D surfaces.
VTK
Each vtk file corresponds to a solid. In the case of anatomy, each organ/structure is usually placed separately in a file to facilitate interactions with them. [simple. html Definition]
STL
Corresponds to Standard Triangle Language. It is a format for the construction of 3D objects based on triangular meshes, providing only spatial information, not including the other physical properties that can be associated with the represented object.
Mixed
They are those containing both volumes and models.
MRML
Corresponds to Medical Reality Markup Language; XML-based, includes references to 3D datasets and scene properties, used to construct the scene of the program. It is Slicer's native format for saving all the elements of a scene in a single file.
Saving a scene
To save a scene, go to the File|Save menu, the Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut or the SAVE button on the toolbar (third from the left).
Closing a scene
When you have finished working with the scene, to close it, use the File|Close Scene option or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+W. This leaves the Slicer window as it was: with the modules and layout you were working with, but without the data you had opened.
