The Image window manages up to three Quicktime compatible (PICT, TIFF, GIF, JPG, etc...) or DICOM images. Plaque Simulator 5 can directly open many types of DICOM images including ultasound sequences.

The primary purpose is to load transverse cross sectional CT or MR scans of the eye in order to measure ocular dimensions and to digitize tumor location from fundus photos. Images can be loaded from files, or "copy & pasted" from the MacOS clipboard or scrapbook. Quicktime and copied images require manual calibration to determine the dimensions of a pixel. DICOM images are self-calibrating.

Try to make the images about 640x480 or 512x512 pixels. If you use larger images and are running MacOS9, you may need to allocate additional memory to the program (using the Finder's Get Info dialog). Images converted to 256 grey level format can be enhanced using the brightness and contrast sliders. Color images can not be changed. Images can be magnified using the far & near "zoom" buttons at the lower left of the window. You can pan on images larger than the window size by holding down the command key and "dragging" or you can use the scroll bars.

Plaque Simulator allocates 3 image buffers. It is, in fact, possible to load ANY generic image into any of the buffers. There is no way for the software to determine in advance what kind of image it is dealing with other than having the user provide that information. The CT, FUNDUS and US buttons tell Plaque Simulator what kind of image is being loaded; CT (or MR), fundus or ultrasound. To load a CT image, click the CT button and then open an image from the File menu. To load a fundus image, click the FUNDUS button and then open the image from the File menu.

These links detail the file and calibration procedures for CT & MR images, fundus images and ultrasound images.