Advanced Lua Conquest configuration (Windows)

Drop/merge the non lua section of this document

Configuring Conquest DICOM server to automatically forward data to OpenREM

Simple rules using the Conquest dicom.ini file

The Conquest DICOM server can be configured to automatically run tasks when it receives specific types of DICOM object. For example, a script can be run when a DX image is received that will extract dose information into OpenREM; Conquest will then delete the original image.

These actions are set up in the dicom.ini file, located in the root of the Conquest installation folder (an example dicom.ini file is available here: Example Windows Conquest dicom.ini file).

An example import converter:

ImportModality1   = MG
ImportConverter1  = save to C:\conquest\dosedata\mammo\%o.dcm; system C:\conquest\openrem-mam-launch.bat C:\conquest\dosedata\mammo\%o.dcm; destroy

ImportModality1 = MG tells Conquest that modality 1 is MG. The commands listed in the ImportConverter1 line are then run on all incoming MG images.

The ImportConverter instructions are separated by semicolons; the above example has three commands:

  • save to C:\conquest\dosedata\mammo\%o.dcm saves the incoming MG image to the specified folder with a file name set to the SOP instance UID contained in the image
  • system C:\conquest\openrem-mam-launch.bat C:\conquest\dosedata\mammo\%o.dcm runs a DOS batch file, using the newly saved file as the argument. On my system this batch file runs the OpenREM openrem_mg.py import script
  • destroy tells Conquest to delete the image that it has just received.

My system had three further import sections for DX, CR, and structured dose report DICOM objects:

# Import of DX images
ImportModality2   = DX
ImportConverter2  = save to C:\conquest\dosedata\dx\%o.dcm; system C:\conquest\openrem-dx-launch.bat C:\conquest\dosedata\dx\%o.dcm; destroy

# Import of CR images
ImportModality3   = CR
ImportConverter3  = save to C:\conquest\dosedata\dx\%o.dcm; system C:\conquest\openrem-dx-launch.bat C:\conquest\dosedata\dx\%o.dcm; destroy

# Import of structured dose reports (this checks the DICOM tag 0008,0016 to see if it matches the value for a dose report)
ImportConverter4  = ifequal "%V0008,0016","1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.67"; {save to C:\conquest\dosedata\sr\%o.dcm; system C:\conquest\openrem-sr-launch.bat "C:\conquest\dosedata\sr\%o.dcm"; destroy}

However, I have since moved to calling lua scripts from Conquest, as described in the next section.

Advanced Conquest DICOM object handling using lua scripts

Conquest can be configured to use lua scripts to handle incoming DICOM objects. This enables more flexibility than the examples provided in the section above. For example, you may wish to keep all incoming images that contain the word physics in the patient name or id fields. You may also wish to direct images from different makes and models of CT scanner to different OpenREM import scripts. I use this technique to forward studies from some Toshiba Aquilion CX and CXL scanners to an importer that creates a DICOM RDSR object from the Toshiba dose summary images and information stored in the image tags. These particular scanners are not capable of producing their own RDSR objects directly. I use the same script to delete images from CT scanners that I cannot extract data from.

A lua script designed to handle any objects with modality CT can be called from dicom.ini in the following way:

ImportConverter6 = ifequal "%m", "CT"; { process patient after 0 by openrem_import_ct.lua %p::%V0008,0070::%V0008,1090::%V0018,1020::%V0008,1010::%V0010,0010::%V0010,0020::%V0008,0020::%V0018,1000; }

The above line will run a script called openrem_import_ct.lua once the complete patient data has been received by Conquest and a delay of 10 minutes has elapsed (the default). The following information is passed on to the script:

  • %p, the path to a folder of DICOM objects
  • %V0008,0070, manufacturer
  • %V0008,1090, model
  • %V0018,1020, software version
  • %V0008,1010, station name
  • %V0010,0010, patient name
  • %V0010,0020, patient id
  • %V0008,0020, study date
  • %V0018,1000, device serial number

An example openrem_import_ct.lua script is shown below. It receives the parameters passed to it as single string. The individual parameters are recovered by splitting up the string using the :: substring as a delimiter. The script keeps any images that contain physics in the patient name or id fields; it looks for any Philips dose info objects and imports these with the appropriate routine; it deletes images from scanners that cannot be used; it runs the Toshiba RDSR creation importer on images from older Toshiba CT scanners:

require "openrem_string_split"

-- It is assumed that 'openrem_rdsr.py' and 'openrem_ctphilips.py' are in the Python scripts folder, and that this
-- and the Python executable location are included in the system path.

-- It is assumed that this code has been called from an ImportConverter within a Conquest dicom.ini file, and passed
-- the following:
--    path to a folder of DICOM objects
--    the manufacturer (0008,0070)
--    model (0008,1090)
--    software version (0018,1020)
--    station name (0008,1010)
--    patient name (0010,0010)
--    patient id (0010,0020)
--    study date (0008,0020)
--    device serial number (0018,1000)

local physics_to_keep = {'physics'}
local physics_folder = 'E:\\conquest\\dicom\\physics_images\\'

local split_input_text = split(command_line, '::')
local study_folder_path = split_input_text[1]
local manufacturer = split_input_text[2]
local model_name = split_input_text[3]
local software_version = split_input_text[4]
local station_name = split_input_text[5]

local patient_name, patient_id, study_date, device_serial_number

if split_input_text[6] == nil then
  patient_name = ''
else
  patient_name = string.lower(split_input_text[6])
end

if split_input_text[7] == nil then
  patient_id = ''
else
  patient_id = string.lower(split_input_text[7])
end

if split_input_text[8] == nil then
  study_date = 'blank'
else
  study_date = split_input_text[8]
end

if split_input_text[9] == nil then
  device_serial_number = 'blank'
else
  device_serial_number = split_input_text[9]
end

print(study_folder_path)

-- If any of the entries in physics_to_keep are present in the patient name or ID then the image is assumed to be a
-- physics test, and is kept.
for i = 1, #physics_to_keep do
  if string.match(patient_name, physics_to_keep[i]) or string.match(patient_id, physics_to_keep[i]) then
    print('Keeping the image: patient name is ' .. patient_name)
    print('and patient ID is ' .. patient_id)
    print('Trying to create folder ' .. physics_folder .. '\\' .. study_date)
    system('c:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C mkdir ' .. physics_folder .. '\\' .. study_date)
    print('Trying to copy to the following folder: ' .. study_folder_path .. ' ' .. physics_folder .. '\\' .. study_date .. '\\')
    system('c:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C copy ' .. study_folder_path .. '\\*.* ' .. physics_folder .. '\\' .. study_date .. '\\')
    return
  end
end

if (manufacturer == 'Philips' and model_name == 'Brilliance 64') then
  print('It is a Philips Brilliance 64')
  -- Look for a dose summary image and import it
  local files = assert(io.popen('dir /b ' .. study_folder_path))
  local output = files:read('*all')
  local file_list = split(output, '\n')

  for k, v in pairs(file_list) do
    current_file = study_folder_path .. '\\' .. v -- The fully qualified file name and path (Windows-specific)
    readdicom(current_file)
    if Data.SOPClassUID == '1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7' then
      system('D:\\Server_Apps\\python27\\python.exe d:\\Server_Apps\\python27\\Scripts\\openrem_ctphilips.py ' .. current_file)
      print('The system command to import a Philips CT dose image has been executed on: ' .. current_file)
    end
  end

  -- Delete the study from disk
  print('Complete. Deleting study images.')
  system('C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C rmdir /S /Q ' .. study_folder_path)
  return
end

-- Check for images from a Toshiba CT simulator - images are of no use - need RDSR
if (manufacturer == 'TOSHIBA' and station_name == 'AQ16LB_SCAN') then
  print('It is a Toshiba Aquilion LB study. Cannot make use of these images - deleting them.')
  system('C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C rmdir /S /Q ' .. study_folder_path)
  print('The system command has been executed to delete the images from the server')
  return
end

-- Toshiba Aquilion CX and CXL scanners - try and create an RDSR from the data
if (manufacturer == 'TOSHIBA' and model_name == 'Aquilion') then
  print('It is a Toshiba Aquilion. Running openrem_rdsr_toshiba_ct_from_dose_images.py script: ' .. study_folder_path)
  system('d:\\Server_Apps\\python27\\python.exe d:\\Server_Apps\\python27\\Scripts\\openrem_rdsr_toshiba_ct_from_dose_images.py ' .. study_folder_path)
  print('The system command has been executed to create the rdsr and import it: ' .. study_folder_path)
  -- The openrem_rdsr_toshiba_ct_from_dose_images.py routine deletes the study from disk once the
  -- RDSR has been produced and imported in to OpenREM.
  return
end

-- Old Toshiba Asteion
if (manufacturer == 'TOSHIBA' and model_name == 'Asteion') then
  print('It is a Toshiba Asteion. Cannot make use of these images - deleting them: ' .. study_folder_path)
  system('C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C rmdir /S /Q ' .. study_folder_path)
  print('The system command has been executed to delete the images from the server')
  return
end

-- Old Picker PQS
if (manufacturer == 'Picker International, Inc.' and model_name == 'PQS') then
  print('It is a Picker PQS. Cannot make use of these images - deleting them: ' .. study_folder_path)
  system('C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C rmdir /S /Q ' .. study_folder_path)
  print('The system command has been executed to delete the images from the server')
  return
end

-- Image from a Vitrea workstation
if (manufacturer == 'Vital Images, Inc' and model_name == 'Vitrea 2') then
  print('It is a Vitrea 2. Cannot make use of these images - deleting them: ' .. study_folder_path)
  system('C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /C rmdir /S /Q ' .. study_folder_path)
  print('The system command has been executed to delete the images from the server')
  return
end

The above script depends on openrem_string_split:

function split(str, pat)
   local t = {}  -- NOTE: use {n = 0} in Lua-5.0
   local fpat = "(.-)" .. pat
   local last_end = 1
   local s, e, cap = str:find(fpat, 1)
   while s do
      if s ~= 1 or cap ~= "" then
     table.insert(t,cap)
      end
      last_end = e+1
      s, e, cap = str:find(fpat, last_end)
   end
   if last_end <= #str then
      cap = str:sub(last_end)
      table.insert(t, cap)
   end
   return t
end

Preventing Conquest from adding incoming DICOM objects to the Conquest database

You may wish to prevent Conquest from adding patient data from incoming DICOM objects to the Conquest database, such as patient names and IDs. To do this set the SQLServer to a blank in the Conquest dicom.ini file:

# Host, database, username and password for database
SQLHost = localhost
# The SQLServer is blank below to prevent the incoming objects from being added to the Conquest database.
SQLServer =

Setting the compression for Conquest incoming DICOM images and archives

Setting the following options to ul within dicom.ini will make Conquest store DICOM objects using little endian explicit encoding:

# Configuration of compression for incoming images and archival
DroppedFileCompression   = ul
IncomingCompression      = ul
ArchiveCompression       = ul

For my system the ul above matches the compression that is set for Conquest’s known DICOM providers in the file acrnema.map, such as the Trust PACS and imaging modalities that have been set up to send data directly to Conquest.