Configuring DICOM Query/Retrieve and DICOM Send

Before you use the DICOM Query/Retrieve or Send facilities of Jim for the first time, you need to configure the DICOM settings. See also our DICOM conformance statement which may help in the setting up of your remote DICOM nodes to communicate with Jim.

  • First you need to configure the Application Entity title for Jim. This is the title that is used by remote nodes in their communications with Jim. Select AE Title ... from the Configure menu. This brings up a dialog box for you to enter the Application Entity (AE) title for Jim. The default is "XIN_PACS", but you can change this to whatever you wish. An AE Title can have a maximum of 16 characters. Whatever you choose, the AE title must match that you use when setting up the remote node so that it can communicate with Jim. If you have not set up the remote node (the remote DICOM server that you want to query), do so now.

Note: Jim performs Study Root queries.

The remote node will also need to know the I/P address of the computer that is running Jim. You will probably need to enlist the help of the supplier of the remote DICOM equipment to set it up to support query/retrieve from Jim.

  • Select the directory in which you want to store DICOM images that are retrieved by Jim. Select Data Storage Directory ... from the Configure menu, and use the File Chooser to select the directory in which DICOM images are to be stored. Jim will create sub-directories within this root directory as it needs, so ensure that you have write permission for this directory.

  • Tell Jim about the remote node you want to query by selecting Add Node ... from the Node menu: node_menu

This brings up the remote node configuration dialog:

configure_remote_node

Enter:

  • A name for the remote node. This can be any name you want to help identify the remote node (e.g., "MRI_SCANNER").
  • The I/P address for the remote node. Contact your I.T. department or equipment supplier if you do not know this.
  • The port used by the remote node. Port 104 is the standard port for DICOM communications, and you should use this unless your equipment supplier tells you otherwise.
  • The Application Entity title for the remote node. Again, contact your equipment supplier if you do not know this.

If the remote node has already been set up to accept connections from Jim, click the verify_button button to perform a DICOM Verify. If the DICOM verification succeeds, you will see a pop-up message like:

verify_succeeded

If verification fails, there are various potential errors. Some example error messages include:

  • Connection timed out. Probably the remote node is either not on the network, or is not up and running. Check that you can ping the remote node's I/P address.
  • Connection refused. The port number may be incorrect, or the AE title may be incorrect. Check that there is match of both of these in the configuration of Jim and the remote node.
  • Association rejected. The AE title used by Jim is unacceptable to the remote node, probably because of mis-configuration.

Click the add_button button to save these values when you are happy that the configuration is correct.

You can add as many remote nodes as you wish using this procedure, and these will be available for query every time you start Jim. The nodes you add will now appear in the Node menu so that you can select which node you want to query.