January 2023

iQ-Newsletter

Dear friends of IMAGE,

Welcome to the January edition of our newsletter. We hope that you had a good start into the new year 2023 and look forward to supporting you as usual with product information, hints and suggestions in the new year.

With best regards,
Dr. Árpád Bischof

New 64-bit edition of iQ-3D 3.2 for processing of large CT and MRI studies

iQ-3D is now additionally available in a 64-bit version. This allows increased use of the system’s main memory resources beyond the 2 GB limit of a 32-bit application and makes it possible to load and process CT, Cone Beam CT and axial MRI series with a large number of slice images of to up thousands per series.

The purpose of the optional 3D add-on to our diagnostic reading software iQ-VIEW/PRO is to assist in the medical diagnosis of three-dimensional CT, Cone Beam CT and MR data by advanced 3D visualization techniques not integrated into iQ-VIEW. With the help of three-dimensional imaging, pathologies can be visualized that otherwise usually escape the human eye.

Processing of such image data is technically not easy. The data sets are often more than 1 GB in size. For processing, more coherent main memory is often required, e.g. 16, 32 GB or even more. This can only be achieved when using modern 64-bit developed DICOM 3.0 compliant software applications like iQ-3D.

Detailed information on iQ-3D is available on our website or in the product flyer. You may download iQ-3D 64-bit* from our Download Center. Please contact sales@iq-image.com for further information.

* The iQ-VIEW 3.1 setup by default deploys iQ-3D 32-bit. To use the 64-bit version, you need to download it separately and replace iQ-3D manually in an existing iQ-VIEW 3.1 installation. Follow the instructions provided with the setup. Furthermore, iQ-3D 64-bit will require a new license.

Product discontinuations to come in 2023

Our software development does not stand still. We are constantly aiming at enhancing our existing products in order to offer the best possible value for your radiology customers and their daily work. This ensures that they stay up-to-date with the latest and most secure products and can provide best healthcare services to their patients. However, along with every new release comes also the discontinuation of older, outdated product versions.

Starting from October 15, 2023, the following product versions will reach their end of life and will no longer be supported by us:

  • iQ-DOSE 1.0
    The release of iQ-DOSE 1.1 scores with several new features that make it easy to say goodbye to version 1.0. Firstly, it now supports the evaluation of XA, RF and tomosynthesis studies. On the other hand, matching rules for limit values have been improved in order to achieve a higher hit rate during evaluation. Last but not least, it is now possible to not only set iQ-VIEW as a viewer to open studies associated with dose records, but also iQ-4VIEW.
  • iQ-WEB UPLOADER 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2
    With iQ-WEB UPLOADER 1.3 we have released a new and enhanced version of our web portal for secure data sharing. Compared to its preceding versions, the latest release includes the option to save the uploader’s email address in the DICOM data as well as to add annotations to each uploaded non-DICOM object.

Be aware that we will neither provide support, nor activations, migrations or replacement licenses for the abovementioned products from October 15, 2023. In case your customers are still using one of these products, we strongly recommend taking action now and use the remaining months to update them to the latest version. To protect your customers’ medical networks from hacker attacks and malicious software, it is essential to only use the latest software versions, security patches and operating systems.

PACStory: Veterinary practice Dr. Besserer, Neuss, Germany

Equipped like a modern veterinarian clinic, the veterinary practice of Dr. Katerine Besserer uses different modalities for regular control examinations as well as the treatment of complex diseases of their animal patients. Furthermore, veterinarians from all over Germany refer to the small animal center to take advantage of Dr. Besserer’s expert knowledge, especially in the fields of surgery, oncology and orthopedics for difficult cases.

Due to the different modalities – ultrasound, X-ray, CBCT – viewing and reading were originally performed at different workstations. Read here, how the practice achieved their goal of working with only one reading station including a centralized storage solution.

New 64-bit edition of iQ-3D 3.2 for processing of large CT and MRI studies

In recent years, the number of examinations using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has increased sharply. As a result, CBCT has become the focus of dose management. Dose reference values for CBCT and DVT were issued in Germany for the first time on November 12, 2022, and became mandatory in the documentation of dose values.

CBCT data is special, extremely thin-sliced CT data generated by means of a conical beam path. Besides its high information content due to the number of thin layers, the data shows reduced motion blur due to the special shape of the beam path. As a result, good 3D images of the smallest structures are created – such as those found in the dental or veterinary field. At the same time, CBCTs come along with higher hardware requirements, as the high information content requires more storage volume and increased computing capacity.

Are you wondering which products of IMAGE Information Systems can display CBCT studies?

Here’s the answer: All our DICOM viewers – including iQ-VIEW/PRO*, iQ-3D (optional add-on of iQ-VIEW/PRO), iQ-4VIEW, iQ-FUSION**, PORT-RAY are capable of displaying CBCT studies.

*The intended use of iQ-VIEW/PRO and iQ-LITE gives a contraindication for dental imaging. It is limited and not recommended for regular use.
**Not for diagnostic purposes within the European Union

iQ-DOSE: Did you know…?

… that you can export the filtered view in iQ-DOSE?

This can be helpful during the investigation of overdoses e.g. when you are searching for the last 20 studies with the same protocol or studies of a certain device only.

To do that, apply the desired filter at the top of the iQ-DOSE Monitor and click the “Export to CSV” button. A list menu will appear asking you to export all data or to export the current view. Click “Export current view” and save the file using the file browser.