2.17. Visualize Images
2.17.1 Select CLUT
Select the CLUT (colour look-up table) from the drop-down menu on the rendering setup panel (Fig. 2.18).
2.17.2 Edit CLUTs List
To edit the list, open the CLUTs setup tab by clicking the CLUTs 
button. The tab is shown
in Fig. 2.19.
CLUTs setup panel is located on the right-hand side of the window (Fig. 2.20).
The CLUTs list edit buttons are located at the top of the panel.
 |
Add a new CLUT as a copy of the current one adds a new CLUT as a copy of the selected one |
 |
Add a new group adds a new group of CLUTs |
 |
Remove the selected CLUT/group deletes the selected CLUT or group. Predefined groups and some CLUTs cannot be deleted |
 |
Reset the selected CLUT to its original state sets up default parameters for the selected CLUT |
 |
Edit configuration/group opens the CLUT or group setup dialog |
The groups contain several CLUTs (e.g., WL, CT) and are intended for structuring the list. They are marked by the arrow (Fig. 2.21) on the drop-down menu (Fig. 2.18).
To add a new group, set the following parameters in the dialog box (Fig. 2.22):
- Name: any name of group;
- Required tags: labels that must contain CLUTs to be included in the group.
2.17.3 CLUT Parameters
To browse the settings for the selected CLUT, click the Rendering transfer function 
button. The panel displaying the visualization transfer function graph will appear at the bottom of
the study window (see the example in Fig. 2.23).
You cannot change the setup parameters for predefined CLUTs.
Intensity will be displayed on the horizontal axis, while the number of points with a particular intensity will be shown on the vertical axis (blue line). The default scale may not allow you to see the intensity distribution graph (blue) at once. To change the horizontal axis scale, move the scroll under the axis or roll the mouse wheel while the cursor is located on the scrollbar. The scale value will be displayed to the right of the scrollbar. To change the vertical axis scale, roll the mouse wheel while the cursor is located on the visualization setup panel, but not on the scrollbar. Fig. 2.24 shows the same graph as in the previous figure, but with a greater intensity distribution scale (on the vertical axis).
The color/transparency chart (white line) is superimposed on the intensity distribution scale. The horizontal axis shows the intensity, and the vertical axis shows the transparency of the color highlighting the points with this intensity. The color is displayed below the graph. The horizontal axis scale changes for both graphs simultaneously, while the vertical axis scale for the color/transparency chart does not change. To move the graph along the horizontal axis, hold the left mouse button.
To find out what percentage of tissue has a density in a given range, click on the Histogram
percentage 
button, move the cursor to the beginning of the range and move the cursor to the
end of the range, holding the left mouse button. The percentage of tissue that has a density within
the range is indicated in red (fig. 2.25). To edit a range, move the cursor to its border and move the
border with the left mouse button pressed. To move a range, move the cursor on it so that the cursor
would look as follows 
, and move the cursor, holding the left mouse button. Multiple ranges
can be built at the same time. To remove the built ranges, click the Histogram percentage button
again.
To export data on the distribution of densities, click on the 
button, in the
dialog that opens, specify the file name and folder, click Save to finish or Cancel for
cancel.
2.17.4 Create and Edit CLUT
To create your own CLUT:
- Click the CLUTs button to open the CLUT setup panel.
- Copy one of the existing CLUTs by selecting it from the list and clicking on the Add a
new CLUT as a copy of the current one button.
- To rename a CLUT, double-click the left mouse button on it, enter the new name and press the Enter key.
- Specify the required parameters:
-
Color. Select a point on the color/transparency chart. The color settings for this
point will become available. To set the color of the current point for all the points
of the chart, click the Apply to all chart points
button.
- Density. Sets the position of the point on the horizontal axis. The alternative way to set this parameter is to move the point along the horizontal axis using the mouse.
- Opacity. Sets the transparency of the color. 1 — maximum, 0 — minimum. The alternative way to set this parameter is to move the point along the vertical axis using the mouse.
-
Color. Select a point on the color/transparency chart. The color settings for this
point will become available. To set the color of the current point for all the points
of the chart, click the Apply to all chart points
- To add a point, locate the cursor on the graph so that it looks like
, right-click the mouse
and select the Add point item.
- To delete a point, locate the cursor on the point so that it looks like , right-click the
mouse and select the Remove point item.
- To restore the original settings for this CLUT, click the Reset the selected CLUT to its
original state button.
To delete a CLUT, click the Remove the selected CLUT/group button.
The DICOM Viewer allows you to add additional color/transparency charts. To add:
- Click the Add chart button. A new chart will appear at the bottom part of the
window, and its name will be added to the drop-down chart menu. The opened menu is
shown in Fig. 2.26.
- To rename the selected chart, click the Edit chart name
button, type new name
and press Enter.
- To delete the selected chart, click the Remove chart button.
- To move all the charts along the horizontal axis, locate the cursor so that it would not to be on any chart and move it, holding the left mouse button.
- To move any chart, select Auto detection from the drop-down chart menu, locate the cursor on the some chart and move it, holding the left mouse button.
- To move a certain chart, select its name from the drop-down chart menu, locate the cursor on this chart and move it holdind the left mouse button. This mode is useful if the charts overlap.
If the chats overlap, the colors are mixed.
