Studierfenster or StudierFenster (SF) is a free, non-commercial

open science Open science is the movement to make scientific research (including publications, data, physical samples, and software) and its dissemination accessible to all levels of society, amateur or professional. Open science is transparent and accessib ...

client/server-based medical imaging processing online framework. It offers capabilities, like viewing medical data (

computed tomography A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...

(CT),

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and ...

(MRI), etc.) in two- and three-dimensional space directly in the standard

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

s, like Google Chrome,

Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curren ...

, Safari, and

Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a Proprietary Software, proprietary cross-platform software, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft and based on the Chromium (web browser), Chromium open-source project, superseding Edge Legacy. In Windows 11, Edge ...

. Other functionalities are the calculation of medical metrics ( dice score and

Hausdorff distance In mathematics, the Hausdorff distance, or Hausdorff metric, also called Pompeiu–Hausdorff distance, measures how far two subsets of a metric space are from each other. It turns the set of non-empty set, non-empty compact space, compact subsets o ...

), manual slice-by-slice outlining of structures in medical images ( segmentation Linda G. Shapiro and George C. Stockman (2001): “Computer Vision”, pp 279–325, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, ), manual placing of (anatomical) landmarks in medical image data, viewing medical data in

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

, a facial reconstruction and registration of medical data for

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

, one click showcases for COVID-19 and veterinary scans, and a Radiomics module. Other features of Studierfenster are the automatic cranial implant design with a

neural network A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a network can perfor ...

, the inpainting of

aortic dissection Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of agonizing ches ...

s with a

generative adversarial network A generative adversarial network (GAN) is a class of machine learning frameworks and a prominent framework for approaching generative artificial intelligence. The concept was initially developed by Ian Goodfellow and his colleagues in June ...

, an automatic aortic landmark detection with

deep learning Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that focuses on utilizing multilayered neural networks to perform tasks such as classification, regression, and representation learning. The field takes inspiration from biological neuroscience a ...

in computed tomography angiography scans, and a GrowCut algorithm implementation for image segmentation. Studierfenster is currently hosted on a server at the

Graz University of Technology Graz University of Technology (, short TU Graz) is a public research university located in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research and educational institute in Austria. ...

in Austria, and expanded jointly with the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (IKIM) in Essen, Germany.

History

Studierfenster was initiated within two bachelor theses during the summer bachelor program of the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision (ICG) at Graz University of Technology, Austria, in cooperation with the Medical University of Graz, Austria, in 2018/2019. The name Studierfenster (or StudierFenster) is German and can be translated to 'StudyWindow', whereby window refers here to a browser window. The word ''Studierfenster'' is an adaption from the word ('study room'), which was an augmented reality project at the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...

in Austria.

Architecture

Studierfenster is set up as a distributed application via a client–server model. The client side (front-end) consists of HTML and JavaScript with

WebGL WebGL (short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript Application programming interface, API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-in (computing), plug-ins. WebGL is fully integra ...

to enable 2D and 3D visualization, rendered on the client. The server side (back-end) handles client requests via C, C++ and Python. It interfaces to common open source libraries and software tools like the Insight Toolkit, the Visualization Toolkit (

VTK The Visualization Toolkit (VTK) is a free software system for 3D computer graphics, image processing and scientific visualization.''Visualization Handbook'', Academic Press, 2005, Chapter 30: the Visualization Toolkit/ref> VTK is distributed und ...

), the X Toolkit (XTK) and Slice:Drop. The server communication is handled by AJAX requests were needed. Studierfenster employs a

Flask Flask may refer to: Container * Hip flask, a small container used to carry liquid * Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes ** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask with a flat bottom, a c ...

server.

Features

Dicom browser

This allows client-side parsing a local folder with

DICOM Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a technical standard for the digital storage and Medical image sharing, transmission of medical images and related information. It includes a file format definition, which specifies the str ...

(Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) files. Afterwards, the whole folder can be converted to compressed (nearly raw raster data) files and downloaded as a single file. Nrrd is a library and

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

for the representation and processing of n-dimensional

raster file:Rgb-raster-image.svg, upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through comb ...

data. It is intended to support scientific visualization and (medical)

image processing An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a pr ...

applications. With the "Dicom Browser" of Studierfenster, it is possible to select specific Studies or Series, and only convert these.

File converter

The file converter converts a medical volume file (e.g. a non-compressed file) to a compressed/binary file. After the conversion, the compressed file can be downloaded and used with the "Medical 3D Viewer" for 2D and 3D visualization, and further image processing.

Metrics module

This can calculate the Dice similarity coefficient and Hausdorff distance between two segmentation masks (in format) in a standard web browser. The resulting table has seven columns: the file names for both files used in the calculation, the calculated Dice similarity coefficient, the calculated Hausdorff distance, the calculated directed HD for both directions, and the information if image spacing was used in the calculation. The table can be sorted, is searchable, and can be exported as a simple copy, an Excel spreadsheet, a comma-separated values file or as a portable document format. The Metrics Module has been used to compare manual anatomical segmentations of brain tumors

VR viewer

The VR Viewer (or Medical VR Viewer) enables viewing (medical) data in Virtual Reality (VR) with devices like the Google Cardboard or the

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

(via the WebVR App). For viewing the data in VR, it needs to be converted to the VTI (.vti) format, which can be done with open-source, multi-platform data analysis and visualization application ParaView

Critics

Studierfenster is not a certified medical product; it can only be used for educational, research, and informational purposes.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Studierfenster
2018 software Open science Software frameworks Medical imaging Free health care software Free DICOM software Free software programmed in C++ Free software programmed in Python Computer vision software Image processing software Data and information visualization software Free 3D graphics software Software that uses VTK