Horos

Horos is an open-source 64-bit DICOM Image viewer for OS X. Horos is based on  OsiriX has similar user interface. Like OsiriX, Horos can be used to find and retrieve scans from our  PACS.

Installation
Download the latest version of Horos from. The Installers folder on dcmdb usually has some older versions if your Mac is too old to run the latest version. If there is a choice, be sure to download Horos 2K. Non-2K versions are not compatible with our PACS. Double-click the .dmg file, agree to the terms, and then drag Horos into your Applications folder.

Configuration
Launch Horos.

Pull down the Horos menu and select Preferences...

Click on Listener. This should bring up the Listener preference window. Set AETitle, Port Number, IP Address and Host Name to the correct values for your workstation. By convention, the AETitle is the same as your computer's Host Name and Port Number is 11112. Theses values must match an entry on the PACS. Other settings should match those shown. If you need assistance, contact Andrew. Click Show All (at the top) to return to Horos Preferences. Click Locations. A location describes the settings Horos uses communicate with another DICOM node. You will need to create one line in the upper box for each PACS you wish to connect with. You can edit an existing entry. Only click Add new node if there aren't enough lines.

Q&R should be ticked. Set Retrieve to C-MOVE. Do not tick send. It is unlikely you will ever want to SEND from Horos to the PACS. Send Transfer Syntax should be Explicit Little Endean. Once you've set the values, click on Verify to test your connections to the PACS. The address will turn yellow or red if there is a problem. If you get an error, carefully check for typos. If it still doesn't work, ask for assistance. Close the Locations window. Horos is configured and ready to use.

Query and Retrive
Click the green Query arrow from the top of the main window. This will open the DICOM Query/Retrieve window. Select the PACS you wish to search from the list of DICOM Nodes. It is possible to search more than one PACS. In the example we are connecting to Elli. Select the type of search you will run by clicking one of the buttons at the top of the window. Most often you will search on Patient Name but occasionally you may wish to search by Referring Physician. Next enter the name you wish to search on. In the example we are searching on SS0074*. Next select the date range. As the PACS holds several years worth of studies it is best to enter a date rage. Leaving the search box empty will find all scans from the selected date range. Click Query. After a short while, the results will appear.

Select This Computer from the Retrieve To pull down. Next, click the green arrow button next to the scan you wish to retrieve. If you click more than one button, Horos will retrieve multiple studies in parallel. Retrieving studies can take considerable time. A green dot indicates a study is fully retrieved to the local database.

Exporting Studies
Horos retrieves studies to its own local database. Export copies data out of the local database to a folder of DICOM files. Select the study or  series you wish to export from the list on the Local Database window, then click the Export button. This will bring up the Export dialog.

Select a location for the DICOM files. Create a new folder if needed. Click the options button. Select the options as shown. Be sure to choose Decompress all DICOM files. Elli PACS stores images using lossless JPEG-2000. Many image packages are not compatible with JPEG-2000 and produce cryptic error messages when fed JPEG-2000 compressed data.

If you are exporting to a memory stick or slow external drive be sure to tick ZIP Package. Export to a temporary location on the workstation's internal disk and then copy the zip file to the external device. If you don't, the export will take forever.