Three DICOM Viewers Compared

There is a lot to consider when choosing the appropriate DICOM viewer for your clinic or hospital, such as:

• price
• compatibility
• ease of use
• hardware requirements

What follows are brief reviews of some of the more popular commercial DICOM viewers.

eFilm Workstation

Produced by Merge Healthcare Inc., eFilm is one of the more common DICOM applications among health care professionals. Version 3.1, which was released in March 2009, now supports the Windows Vista operating system. Reports from users in the medical community state that this latest version is faster and makes it easier to view multiple images at a higher resolution by adjusting the viewing protocols. The licensing fee also includes one year of unlimited technical support at no additional cost. A free 30-trial of the software is available at the Merge corporate website.

Recommended System Requirements:

• Pentium 4 processor
• 2 GB RAM
• 4 GB of hard disk space
• 32-bit video card

Manufacturer’s Price:

$950.00 for one year, $2500.00 for perpetual license

Voxar 3D Workstation

The Voxar 3D Workstation is published by the Advanced Visualization Imaging System Division of Barco NV, which was taken over by Toshiba Medical Systems early in 2009. It can be licensed on three levels:

• core application (basic)
• advanced tools (including “fly-through” imaging capability)
• clinical applications (full functionality)

The latest version of this software, 6.3.2, was released in June 2009. This software is designed for easy integration into any existing PAC system and is compatible with the Windows Vista operating system.
Recommended System Requirements:

Contact manufacturer

Manufacturer’s Price: Contact vendor

PACSImage-Vue

This software package complies with all FDA standards and is fully compatible with all DICOM functions. Published by PACS-Image Inc., this is also one of the more economical DICOM viewers available commercially. The company offers a limited-time free trial.

Recommended System Requirements:

• Dual Core processor or better
• 2 GB RAM (XP); 3 GB RAM for Vista OS
• 160 GB of hard disk space
• 1280 x 1024 resolution monitor