Using the RPE from the Viewer

Introduction

Use the Reading Protocol Editor to change DICOM or viewport properties to select series for display in a user reading protocol.

When you access the Reading Protocol Editor from the Viewer, the available list of DICOM options depends on the series modality and your selection of the following options:

  • Image Type
  • Series Contains
  • Series Does Not Contain
  • Contrast
  • Image Orientation
  • Stress Echo Values
  • Image Preset

Steps

  1. Use one of the following options to edit a reading protocol.

    Note:

    PENDING displays in the title bar of the rule card being edited until you click Save to apply all pending changes.

    • Select Edit Reading Protocol from the Reading Protocols drop-down list. See Viewer Toolbar Features.
    • Select Save New Reading Protocol from the Reading Protocols drop-down list and select Edit.
  1. Optional: Complete the following steps to create additional steps automatically so all the images in the study are available in reading protocol steps.
    • Click the Reading Protocol Step drop-down list located on the Reading Protocol Editor toolbar. See Reading Protocol Editor Toolbar.
    • Select Organize Steps to open a dialog box where you can select the applicable option:
      • For MG, select the Autogen check box. This option is only available for the MG modality.
      • For all other modalities, select the Automatically create steps check box. This option is only available for index-based reading protocols.
    • Click Update.
  1. Change some, all, or none of these viewport options:

If you want to do this...

Complete these steps...

Determine what displays in the viewport: Empty, All Images, Bookmark Images, or Series.

From the Type drop-down list, select an option.

Note: Synapse displays additional options when you select Series.

Determine if a current or prior (such as P1 and P2) series displays in the selected viewport.

From the Study Reference drop-down list, select an option.

Change the tile format for the selected viewport.

From the Tile Format drop-down list, select an option.

See Changing the Number of Images in a Viewport.

Apply an interactive tool, such as zoom, to all of the images in the series or to selected images in the series.

From the Apply Tool To drop-down list, select an option.

Apply a selected zoom factor to a series.

From the Initial Zoom drop-down list, select an option.

Note: You must calibrate your monitor in order for some Initial Zoom options to work. See Calibrating Monitors for True Size Image Display

See Changing the Zoom Factor.

Enable or disable text overlay information for all the series in a study.

From the Text Overlays drop-down list, select an option.

See Displaying and Hiding Text Overlay Information.

Determine which index displays in the selected viewport.

In the Index text box, change the index number.

Note: The Index option is not available unless you remove the Series Contains option.

Determine the step increment.

The increment is typically the number of viewports in the reading protocol step. If you change the increment number, some series might not display using this reading protocol.

In the Increment text box, change the increment number.

Note: The Index / Increment option is not available unless all view ports in a step are indexed-based.

  1. Click the plus sign below the last option to display a drop-down list.
  2. Select one or more of the following options. When you select a DICOM property, Synapse automatically adds the Rules Target option to the rule card.

    If you want to do this...

    Complete these steps...

    Perform a query of the Synapse database using the contents of the Series Contains field. Synapse displays the series description based on characters of each word and displays the series that match the characters in this field.

    Note: The Series Contains fields are not available when the Stress Echo Values option is selected.

    For example, if the series description contains the term sagittal, Synapse searches for the "sag" characters for a match to other sagittal descriptions. If another series description contains the term sagittal spelled as sagital, Synapse still matches the misspelled sagital series description with this user created reading protocol.

    • Select Series Contains.
    • Add or remove characters in the series description as necessary in the Series Contains text box.

    Note: Although Synapse 7.1 supports editing reading protocols from prior releases that have multiple Series Contain rules, you can only create a single Series Contain rule per rule card when building a DICOM property reading protocol.

    Perform a query of the Synapse database using the contents of the Series Does Not Contain field. Synapse ignores the series description based on characters of each word and displays the series that does not match the characters in this field.

    If multiple words are used in the Series Does Not Contain field, Synapse ensures there is no match for all items listed in this field.

    Note: The Series Does Not Contain field is not available when the Stress Echo Values property is selected.

    • Select Series Does Not Contain.
    • Add or remove characters in the series description as necessary in the Series Does Not Contain text box.

    Note: You can only include a single Series Does Not Contain property per rule card when building a reading protocol.

    Match against the image type in the DICOM properties of the image.

    Note: The number of Image Type Value options depends on the image.

    • Select Image Type. Synapse displays all three Image Type menu options in separate drop-down lists.
    • From the drop-down list, select the image type.
    • Optional: Click the  Minus sign to remove Image Types that you do not need.

    Match against the orientation of the patient: sagittal, coronal, or transverse (axial).

    • Select Image Orientation.
    • From the drop-down list, select the image orientation.

    Match against the DICOM contrast tag.

    • Select Contrast.
    • From the drop-down list, select the contrast type.

    Apply a preset to the series. See Applying a Preset to an Image.

    • Select Image Preset.
    • From the drop-down list, select the image preset.

    Display Stress Echo Values for ultrasound (US) modality viewports for Stage Number and View Number.

    Note: When the Stress Echo property is selected, the Series Contains and the Series Does Not Contain fields are not available.

    • Select Stress Echo Values.
    • Enter a whole number value in the text boxes for:
      • Stage Number
      • View Number

Note:
  • The Rules Target default setting is Undisplayed Series.
  • The Rules Target is automatically updated based on the series in the viewports.
  1. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have selected all the necessary options.
  2. Optional: to remove an added viewport option, click the Minus sign .
  1. Do one of the following:

If you want to do this...

Choose this option...

Review your changes in the Viewer before saving the reading protocol.

  • Click Preview to review the changes.

  • In the Reading Protocols drop-down list, select Save New Reading Protocol.

Save the reading protocol.

Return to the Viewer without saving the reading protocol changes.

  • In the Reading Protocol Editor toolbar, click Close to return to the Viewer.

Additional Options

To create a new DICOM Reading Protocol rule card, refer to the following topics:

Related Topics

Reading Protocol Overview

Configuring the Loop Reading Protocol Steps Setting

Reading Protocol Editor Toolbar

Organizing RP Steps

Using the RPE from User Settings