GDLffDICOM is an adaptation of IDLffDICOM to achieve several outcomes.

• Better runtime error handling
• Ability to read a broader range of DICOM files
• Limited ability to write DICOM files
• Drop in replacement of IDLffDICOM

The code for this project is available from GDL.

IDL does not include an FTP client in the core API. Despite several requests for such a feature, ITT has not decided do anything about it. I have implemented a FTP client which can upload and download files using passive FTP transfer. This should work with most FTP servers, however, some people may experience difficulty if there is a firewall in the way.

Considering that three major Nuclear Medicine equipment vendors allow the use of IDL on their workstations, IDL is likely to become the de-facto standard for writing in-house software. However, there is no standard to guaruntee that an IDL application will work when ported from one vendor to the next. I have proposed astandard which uses DICOM files to exchange image data between the workstation and software. The launcher will enable a workstation to conform to this standard. The a launcher can also be implemented on a stand-alone machine as a testing environment.

I have implemented a Renal Analysis package using IDL. This package has been continually developed over the past 2 years. The Renal Analysis package has a suite of features, including:

• Calculation of lasix clearance
• Calculation of K/A perfusion indicies
• Calculation of Output Efficiency
• Calculation of the Patlak Plot
• Calculation of the retention function using Rutlands method
• Calculation of the retention function using discrete deconvolution
• Calculation of differential function using the curve intergal or Patlak Plot method
• Calculation of attunation correction using lateral images
• Arrangement of results on secondary capture images

Screenshots

The eXtensible Markup Language - Remote Procedural Call (XML-RPC) standard describes a generic way of calling procedures and transferring parameters and results over TCP/IP. I have implemented an XML-RPC client, thus allowing you to call procedures on an XML-RPC server. I have also found XML-RPC as a useful alternative to using save and restore. I serialise data using my XML-RPC package. This leaves my data in a human readable format which I can edit an my favourite text editor.

My evaluation of iTools suggests that it does not provide a user interface which meets typical clinical requirements. I have constructed a toolkit which uses IDL Object Graphics to provide a GUI with a suite of typical visualisation features. The toolkit is a promotes a 'top-down' approach in which the programmer builds a workflow from a collection of simpler activities. The activities are typically completed in sequence, however, the user can interactively jump to any part of the processing. Documentation