dicompyler Readme
=================

dicompyler is an extensible radiation therapy research platform and viewer for
DICOM and DICOM RT.

dicompyler is released under a BSD license. See the included license.txt file,
or available online at: http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler/

Full documentation and source code for dicompyler is available online at:
http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler/

Release notes for this version can be found online at:
http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler/wiki/ReleaseNotes

Features
========

- Import CT/PET/MRI Images, DICOM RT structure set, RT dose and RT plan files
- Extensible plugin system with included plugins:
    - 2D image viewer with dose and structure overlay
    - Dose volume histogram viewer with the ability to analyze DVH parameters
    - DICOM data tree viewer
    - Patient anonymizer

Quick Start
===========

If you have downloaded dicompyler as an application for Windows or Mac, please
follow the normal process for running any other application on your system.

If you are running from a Python package, a script called "dicompyler" is now
present on your path, which you can run from your command line or terminal.

If you are running from a source checkout, there is a script in the main folder
called "dicompyler_app.py" which can be executed via your Python interpreter.

Getting Started
===============

dicompyler will read properly formatted DICOM and DICOM-RT files. To get
started, run dicompyler and click "Open Patient" to bring up a dialog box that
will show the DICOM files in the last selected directory. You may click
"Browse..." to navigate to other folders that contain DICOM data.

In the current version of dicompyler, you can import any DICOM CT, PET,
or MRI image series, DICOM RT structure set, RT dose and RT plan files.
dicompyler will automatically highlight the deepest item for the patient.
All related items (up the tree) will be automatically imported as well.

Alternatively, you can selectively import data. For example, If you only want
to import CT images and an RT structure set just highlight the RT structure set.
If you are importing an RT dose file and the corresponding plan does not
contain a prescription dose, enter one in the box first. To import the data,
click "Select" and dicompyler will process the information.

Once the DICOM data has been loaded, the main window will show the patient and
plan information. Additionally it will show a list of structures and isodoses
that are associated with the plan.

Example DICOM-RT data is provided in the downloads tab on the project homepage:
http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler/downloads/list

Included Plugins
================

You can use the 2D View tab to navigate CT, PET or MRI data with corresponding
structures and isodoses. The DVH tab can be used to inspect and analyze DVH
curves. The DICOM tree view tab can be used to delve into the raw DICOM data of
the imported files. You can anonymize the loaded DICOM files via the anonymizer
found in the File --> Export menu.

Custom Plugins
==============

Since dicompyler is based on a plugin architecture, users can write their own
plugins with ease. For more information see the Plugin Development Guide on the
dicompyler wiki: http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler/wiki/PluginDevelopmentGuide

3rd-party plugins can be found at http://code.google.com/p/dicompyler-plugins/

Bugs and Feedback
=================

Please report any bugs or feedback on the dicompyler discussion group found at:
http://groups.google.com/group/dicompyler/

Credits
=======

A number of individuals have contributed to dicompyler and can be found in the
included credits.txt.
