DICOM Setup

If your scanner has DICOM license, you will be able to send exams to PACS over DICOM Store, as well as query patient demographics using the DICOM Worklist.

For more information, please download these step-by-step guides: Clarius DICOM Store Setup and Clarius DICOM Worklist Setup. 

There are two methods to set up the DICOM connections:

1. Clarius Cloud
   • Propagates information to all users within the institution
   • If multiple mobile devices will be set up for DICOM with the Clarius App, it is best to set up the DICOM information this way, via the Clarius Cloud Institution Settings
2. Clarius App
   • Limited to the specific device the App is installed on
   • If only specific devices will have access to DICOM functionality with the Clarius App, it is best to set up DICOM from directly within the Clarius App installed on the mobile device in question.
   • Good for quickly testing connectivity
   • Has the ability to specifically name the Client AE title (not just the Server AE title). If no specific Client AE title is input, the default Client AE title will be the scanner's serial number.

Note: If your DICOM software requires a specific Client AE title for the ultrasound, please set up the connection to the DICOM server via the Clarius App.

Cloud Setup

1. As an Administrator, sign into Clarius Cloud.
2. Select My Institution to go to your most recently viewed institution. If you are in more than one institution, you may need to switch to a different institution. Select Settings in the institution menu.
   
   Note: Only Administrators will see the Settings option for their Institution. If you are the only user in an institution, you are by default the Administrator.
   
   
3.  Select Systems > DICOM.
   
   
   
   
4. Select Add DICOM Server.
   
   
5.  You will need to know the following information about your DICOM server:
   Server Application Entity Title (AET), IP Address, and Port number of your DICOM server, for both the Storage and Worklist modalities.
   
   Select the Server Type.
   
   You may leave the checkbox to resize images unchecked.
   
   Check the checkbox to enable structured reports, if you anticipate using structured reports and specific measurements. 
   
   
6. Click Save when you are finished. 
   
   
   
7. If your facility uses multiple DICOM servers, you can configure additional servers by repeating the above steps.
   
   
8. Sign out of the Clarius App on your mobile device, and sign back in again for changes made at Cloud.Clarius.com to sync to your Clarius App. 

In-App Setup

1. Open the side menu by tapping the 3 horizontal lines in the top left corner and select Settings.
2. Scroll down the settings page and tap on the DICOM Server Settings button.
   Alternately, in the search bar, you may type "Dicom". You will see a result with a button for DICOM Server Settings. Tap on DICOM Server Settings.
   
   
   You will see the DICOM Server Settings page. Any DICOM servers that have been added in app, or via the above process at Cloud.Clarius.com, will, after signing out and signing into the Clarius App again, be displayed here.
   
   Test Connectivity:
   You may test connectivity by tapping on the word C-Echo from this page, for the related connection. A green checkmark indicates the connection was successful. A red X indicates an unsuccessful connection. Please ensure your mobile device is on the same network and subnet as the DICOM server, then try tapping on C-Echo again.
   
   Remove Connections
   
   If the DICOM connection was set up in the app, tapping on the trash bin icon will prompt you to remove the connection. Ensure you have any relevant information written down if you may need it again. 
   
   If the DICOM connection was not set up in the app, and was instead set up at Cloud.Clarius.com, you will receive a notice that this connection can only be removed at Cloud.Clarius.com. Your institution administrator can do so.
   
   
3. Tap the plus + icon to add a new server.
   
4. You will be prompted to input the specifics of the DICOM connection.
   
   

   Institution: Select your Clarius Institution. Server Type: Select Storage for the connection that will send images to your DICOM/PACS server Select Worklist for the connection that will pull modality worklist information from your DICOM/PACS server
   Server AE Title:	The "name" of the DICOM server itself, as given to you by the DICOM/PACS administrator. This title is CaSe SenSiTive, thus input this title exactly as given to you by your DICOM/PACS administrator.  Please see the Supporting Documents for our Dicom Conformance Statement, which lists which character sets Clarius recognizes. Please ensure that the titles are formatted to one of these character sets. It is recommended avoid non-English characters in your Server/Client names.
   Client AE Tile:	The "name" of the ultrasound scanner, as determined either -automatically, if left blank; the Client AE title will default to the serial number of any scanner used. -by your DICOM server's requirements. If your DICOM server software requires you to input a specific Client AE title, this is where it should be input. This title is also CaSe SenSiTive, thus input this title exactly as given to you by your DICOM/PACS administrator.  This only needs to be set once, for any number of scanners used. Please see the Supporting Documents for our Dicom Conformance Statement, which lists which character sets Clarius recognizes. Please ensure that the titles are formatted to one of these character sets. It is recommended to avoid non-English characters in your Server/Client names.
   Server Address: The IPv4 IP address of the DICOM server.  Please note, that the mobile device that uses the Clarius App must be able to connect to the same network and subnet as the DICOM server, in order for communication to occur.  This may be different for storage and worklist requests.  Port: The port used for the specific DICOM connection. In this example, port 104 is input, however, the port you are asked to use may differ. When setting up separate storage and worklist connections, the ports used for each connection may be different or may be the same. Please ensure the port(s) being used are able to receive communication when the DICOM software is in use.
   	Image Width, Height: Defaults to 800 pixels. Do not modify this. This does not affect the end quality of the DICOM images that you will have access to. Recrop Images: Leave disabled (grey) Structured Report: Enable this function (orange). This function allows certain exam types to have a DICOM-specific structured report formatted file transmitted with the DICOM images. This is separate from, and does not affect, the report that is generated by the Clarius App upon completing an exam and saving it in a PDF report format.

5. Select Save when finished.
6. Tap C-ECHO to test the connection to the server.

Sending Exams

1. After finishing an exam, select in the demographics screen to bring up the DICOM Server selection. Select the server(s) that you would like to send your exams to and select End Exam to submit.
2. IMPORTANT: Make sure a WLAN or Internet connection is available when storing the exam. As most use cases will use the Scanner's Wi-Fi hotspot, there are a few options to ensure that a connection to the server exists:
   1. Manually connect through the device's Wi-Fi Settings
   2. If LTE (mobile internet) is available on the device, ensure it is turned on
   3. Enable Auto Exam Upload from the App's Settings page to allow an automatic disconnection from the scanner's Wi-Fi hotspot. Once a new exam is started, the hotspot connection will engage once again. 

For more detailed information, please refer to Clarius DICOM Conformance Statement. 

Accessing Worklists

To access the Worklist after setting up a DICOM Worklist server, enter the patient demographics page and select . Once on the Worklist page, various filters and search parameters can be applied to find and add the patient demographic information into the Clarius App.