Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Graphics OS X Operating Systems Software

Reading FilmX Picture Files? 71

Posted by Cliff from the accessing-unconventional-file-types dept.
bzlman asks: "I just broke my finger and instead of conventional x-rays, the ER gave me a CD with huge picture files on it from the company called FilmX from sorna.com. Unfortunately, the software to read the pics is for Windows, and the file type for the images (each about 10 MB) is 'command line' (the files are of no conventional type). I've tried opening the files with every image program for Mac OS X and Classic, to no avail. These are high quality images I want to see, and I hope someone can help me find a Mac OS X way to view them. Thanks."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Reading FilmX Picture Files? More

Reading FilmX Picture Files?

Comments Filter:

  • The wonders of searching VT (Score:5, Informative)

    by RalphBNumbers ( 655475 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:41AM (#10773843)
    Hmm... their homepage says they are "a dicom solution".

    A versiontracker search for "dicom" under MacOSX returns these programs [versiontracker.com].

    Or you could just use the ubiquitous GraphicConverter [lemkesoft.de] which handles just about everything, including dicom images iirc.

  • Is this a joke? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:41AM (#10773847)
    It says on the freakin' link you supplied what the format is: DICOM

    Use Google and find plenty of viewers (ImageMagick works, for instance).

    It would've taken you less typing then your slashdot story.

    • Re:Is this a joke? (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      The story is a red herring. The real aim of the story was to hopefully fire up a flamewar against the DICOM makers screaming for them to make their stuff open source. Thanks to the astute slashdot readers it looks like that's been quashed.

  • Whoa! That's an interesting google... (Score:5, Funny)

    by morgewan ( 84946 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:42AM (#10773850) Homepage
    I would warn against a google for 'filmx mac' if you are in a sensitive environment. Are you sure that was a finger they x-rayed???

    Honey, I was just trying to help some guy out on slashdot REALLY!

  • Virtual PC (Score:1, Informative)

    by macrealist ( 673411 )
    The viewer is on the CD. Not the best solution, but Virtual PC [microsoft.com] should allow you to view it.

  • Try raw image loader (Score:4, Informative)

    by Rikus ( 765448 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:42AM (#10773857)
    I know nothing about the specific file format being used here, but the fact that the images are quite large might suggest that they contain an uncompressed representation of the image data, possibly viewable with a raw image data loader (such as the GIMP plugin called raw.c).
    Of course, even if that is the case, it might not be possible to get a decent picture from it, but it's worth a shot.
    • if they were raw image files, you could import them with photoshop, so long as you know the bpp and dimensions... photoshop is pretty good at guessing most of the time.

      I'd be interested in a copy of said images for both viewing and experimentation purposes. Perhaps I could write a gimp plugin for it?

      And for the poster who suggested virtual PC, what the hell? that's overkill, why not just suggest a cheap 200$ PC? heh.
    • As a rule, *NO* medical images are ever stored using lossy compression. Lossy compression can create artifacts, and medical images are used to make life-or-death decisions. "Sorry Mrs. Smith. That brain tumor was actually a JPEG artifact."

      So, medical images will either use lossless or no compression. There are some lossless compression schemes that can gain about a 50% reduction in picture size. Nothing compared to 90% or so using JPEG, but not too bad either.
      • Sorry, this is a reply about your sig:
        Conservatives: Kill murderers, save children.
        Liberals: Kill children, save murderers.


        So, I say kill everyone (pro-death penalty, pro-abortion, pro-assisted suicide,) where do I fall in that spectrum? :-p

  • use iRad or Osirix (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:44AM (#10773868)
    the pictures may be in DICOM format, which is the standard for radiographic images. Either of these programs will read that format and allow you to manipulate the image series.

  • Here we go again (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ravenspear ( 756059 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:45AM (#10773872)
    I really don't care if I burn Karma here.

    Why is Cliff intent on turning apple.slashdot.org into a tech support forum? I mean I could probably point to at least 10 stories he has posted in the last month or two which are basically some random person who needs help with an OS X issue that a two second search on Google or VT or the Macworld of Macfixit forums or any other number of places would have yielded the answer to.

    • Re:Here we go again (Score:4, Interesting)

      by zo219 ( 667409 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @06:50AM (#10775042) Homepage
      It's not Cliff. (Okay, maybe it is Cliff, but that's another story.) Fact is, every damn OS X forum has been clogged - clogged, people! - with questions that a pulldown of the ol' Help Menu would answer. If Google is too much to ask. I don't get it. Why OS X? It is Switchers? Some kind of Learned Helpless that eventually besets all who use Windows?
      In which case one must be patient and charitable. But forget completely about Apple "My screen is all funny writing and grey" Discussions. The dumb-down is everywhere. I have even seen (gasp, I know) semi-boneheaded idling on macosxhints.com. Now, that's serious. Though by this time, Panther hints must be running pretty sparse on the ground. . .

      • Re:Here we go again (Score:4, Interesting)

        by DavidLeblond ( 267211 ) <.me. .at. .davidleblond.com.> on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @09:31AM (#10775646) Homepage
        Its partly because when we switched we were told by our friends that we would not be able to find any software on the Mac, so we assume its not there (I'm a recent switcher.) Hell I even have heard people argue that "Apple doesn't have many applications because there aren't any development tools yet for the Mac."
    • Sure, it would be a two second search - but only if one knows that DICOM was the name of an image format. Nor does the company's statement "We are a DICOM alternative to film" help unless you already know what DICOM means. Kind of a catch-22, no?

  • Dear slashdot.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @12:49AM (#10773898)
    My friend gave me a shiny flat object. He said it's a "Seedy" and I should put it in my Mac. But my Mac only has a small 3.5-inch slot on the lower right.

    What do I do? Should I cut the seedy in half or what?

    Thanks!

  • 'Command line' huh. (Score:4, Informative)

    by cbiffle ( 211614 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @02:08AM (#10774214)
    I have to assume you checked the type of the file by pointing at it in the Finder.

    Pull up a Terminal and enter 'file name-of-one-of-the-files' without the quotes. It will tell you.

    It's likely to say DICOM Medical Imaging Data, but we'll see.

    Search for a reader for the format it suggests.

  • Thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JavaRob ( 28971 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @02:22AM (#10774304) Homepage Journal
    A few other commenters seem to have found the answer for you already... but if this were a totally non-standard, proprietary format that was impossible to view on anything but Windows, I can still think of possible solutions. E.g., from what I understand Windows is becoming a fairly widespread operating system nowadays; perhaps you have a neighbor, or a friend, or a relative, or a coworker, who has one of these unusual machines? :)

    Seriously, though, you should complain. All they have to do is include a readme file that says "Users of other operating systems can open these images using any image viewer with DICOMM support" or something along those lines. It's not hard -- but they may not have bothered yet simply because they aren't getting any real complaints. It's like all of the websites out there that are only tested on IE. No complaints, so why change?

    Fortunately, as more people use Firefox, and (possibly?) more people use Macs, the common understanding that you're "safe" to only include support for Windows and IE will start to disappear.
    • Here is your cake.

      Can you send something back tomorrow? My birthday; but I prefer some champagne...

      And to stay on topic: I second your comment ;-)

      happy birthday!
      • Ok, I had to change my sig (since my birthday is now over). Now people reading your comment will be *so* confused.... Oh, well.

        Anyway, happy birthday to you, today. And voila: /pops champagne cork, hands over bottle
    • I have no cake to mail you. And I don't know you. But Hapy Birthday anyway!

      You are right on target. He should complain to the medical office, then to the company that produced the CD.

      No one will do anything about it until they get a sufficient number of complaints.

  • openrad.com to the rescue! (Score:5, Informative)

    by whiteSanjuro ( 693864 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @02:41AM (#10774382)
    what you are looking for is an open-source DICOM Viewer [mcw.edu]. OpenRad [openrad.com] is a great source for open source radiology projects and information.

  • Osirix: open/free cocoa DICOM viewer (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Many programs will view DICOM files these days, even the most excellent and venerable ImageMagik [imagemagick.org]. Osirix [mac.com] is an excellent tool for visualising and analysing medical images, volumetric data, and will let you manipulate the data, view in 3D and all sorts of funky things.
  • http://irad.sourceforge.net/

  • Just relax (Score:4, Insightful)

    by nycroft ( 653728 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2004 @04:40PM (#10780346) Homepage
    Dude, seriously, all these guys that are giving you crap are just a bunch of Mac snobs. They've been working with their computers so long that they don't remember what it was like to feel helpless when encountered by a strange file. Sure you could've done a little research, but that's not your fault.

    What is the Apple section for anyway? Is it just for a bunch of flamers to sit around bitching? Or are we here to actually help the Mac user community grow a little?

    Try Graphic Converter, it should be in your Applications Folder or Utilities folder. If that fails, OsiriX [mac.com] has an open source, OSX compatible viewer.

    Sorry about my compatriots here, we'll try and be more tolerant next time.
    • What is the Apple section for anyway? Is it just for a bunch of flamers to sit around bitching? Or are we here to actually help the Mac user community grow a little?

      My understanding of /. was that it was "news for nerds" not "a community help forum for the technically illiterate."

      • Re:Just relax (Score:1, Flamebait)

        by nycroft ( 653728 )
        Well if you don't have anything good to say to the original poster, don't say it at all is what I'm getting at. You just proved my point, you snob.
    • LOL Nicely put, nycroft. Nothing is more intimidating for somebody new to something than dealing with techno-elitist snobs who make their day by tearing somebody else down. Time was you would only bump into that in PC IRC forums (ever try being a n00b in IRC? It's ugly, man!) But I'm disappointed to see this attitude come over to the Mac.

      I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. We are on slashdot, after all. ;) And the Mac has won over many new users from the geekier side because of its sweet GUI built

  • DICOM Files (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Macgoon ( 608648 ) *
    Graphic Converter opens this kind of file with no problem. Photoshop CS does not. Go figure.
  • The best place to look for programs that read the many different medical imaging file formats is idoimaging.com [idoimaging.com].

    You'll find a ton of programs and libraries for reading DICOM files there on any major platform.

Slashdot Top Deals

After the last of 16 mounting screws has been removed from an access cover, it will be discovered that the wrong access cover has been removed.

Close