Project Settings

• The setting names are listed in the left column and the corresponding values or options are in the right column.
• Most settings can be configured by clicking the corresponding blue button.
• Each setting is described below:

Site ID

• The Site ID is either auto-generated or parsed from a Java Anonymizer Index File (Index.xlsx).
• The Site ID cannot be changed after project creation.
• The Site ID is written as the first entry in the private block (0013,1001) of every anonymized DICOM file.
• The Site ID appears within square brackets in the title bar of the dashboard, following the project name when a project is open.

Auto-generation

• The Site ID is auto-generated by the Anonymizer when a new project is created.
• To ensure uniqueness, it is time-based and equal to the number of 30 minute intervals since 1 Jan 1970.

Configure project by importing Java Anonymizer Index File (Index.xlsx)

• If the user clicks the Load Java Index File button and imports the contents of a Java Anonymizer index file, the Site ID will be parsed from the first study row read from the index file.
• The data of all studies in the index file will be imported into the Anonymizer database to ensure unique UIDs continue to be generated for the project.

Project Name

• The project name must be less than 16 characters.
• The project name is written as the second entry in the private block (0013,1003) of every anonymized DICOM file.
• The project name is used as the default directory name for the Anonymizer store, see the Storage Directory setting below.
• The project name appears in the title bar of the dashboard of an open project followed by the Site ID in square brackets.
• The project name cannot be changed after project creation.

UID Root

• The UID Root forms the prefix of all DICOM UIDs generated by the Anonymizer for this project.
• By default it is set to the RSNA UID Root.
• The UID Root cannot be changed after project creation.
• The Anonymizer generates sequential UIDs for a project with the format: "[UID Root].[Site ID].[N]" where N is the integer sequence number.

DICOM Servers

Local Server

• The local server acts as both the DICOM Service Class Provider (SCP) and the Service Class User (SCU) for the Anonymizer.
• The Address drop down box is populated with the IP addresses of the network interfaces of the local machine.
• When a project is opened, the local SCP is started and listens for incoming DICOM associations on the selected address, specified port and AE Title.
• The local SCP will accept associations from any remote SCU calling the specified AE Title.
• When a project is closed, the local server SCP is stopped.
• The local server SCU is allocated ports from the operating system for outgoing DICOM associations but uses the same address and AE Title as the SCP.

Query Server

• The query server is the remote DICOM Service Class Provider (SCP) that the Anonymizer will query and retrieve DICOM files from.
• If necessary and supported by the network architecture, the query server address can be found using its domain name through a DNS lookup.
• The query server address, port and AE Title specifies how the query SCP listens for incoming DICOM associations.
• The Anonymizer's local SCU details will typically need to be added to the remote server's allowed DICOM SCU's tables to allow access.
• The query server must be configured to allow the Anonymizer SCU to perform C-ECHO, C-FIND and C-MOVE requests.
• The query server must be configured with the Anonymizer SCP destination details (address, port, AE Title).
• The Anonymizer local SCU retrieves DICOM studies and their associated files from the query server by issuing DICOM C-MOVE requests at a user specified level.
• The Anonymizer local SCP receives the files from the query server on a separate association from which the request was made (as per the C-MOVE protocol).
• The details of the query and import process can be found in the Query, Retrieve & Import View section below.

Export Server

• The export server is the remote DICOM Service Class Provider (SCP) that the Anonymizer will send DICOM files to.
• If necessary and supported by the network architecture, the export server address can be found using its domain name through a DNS lookup.
• The export server address, port and AE Title specifies how the export SCP listens for incoming DICOM associations.
• The Anonymizer's Local SCU details will typically need to be added to the remote export server's allowed DICOM SCU's tables to allow access.
• The export server must be configured to allow the Anonymizer SCU to perform C-ECHO, C-FIND and C-SEND requests.
• The Anonymizer SCU sends DICOM studies and their associated files to the export server by issuing DICOM C-SEND requests at a user specified level.
• The details of the export process can be found in the Export View section below.

AWS S3 Server

• The AWS Cognito Credentials dialog captures the parameters required for the Anonymizer to send anonymized studies to an AWS S3 storage bucket as an AWS Cognito application user.
• The default values, except for Username and Password are the values required to send to the RSNA Imaging Archive.
• Contact RSNA Informatics department for registering your Site ID & Project to receive a Username and Password for exporting to their archive.
• To configure a custom AWS S3 installation requires the setup of a Cognito application, user and identity pool with ListBucket and PutObject permissions.
• The Export to AWS checkbox must be checked to enable AWS S3 Export instead of the DICOM Export Server.
• The details of the export process to AWS S3 can be found in the Export View section below.

Network Timeouts

• The network timeouts are the maximum time the Anonymizer will wait for a response from a remote DICOM server before timing out.
• There are 4 different timeouts that are set in seconds and can be adjusted to suit the network conditions.
• The defaults are set to sensible values which should accommodate most servers.
• The Network Timeout will timeout if no expected activity has been detected from the remote server.
• The Network Timeout is the most likely timeout which may require tuning.

Storage Directory

• The storage directory is a local file system location where the Anonymizer stores the anonymized files and all project data.
• The project data file: ProjectModel.pkl stores the project settings is stored in the root of the storage directory.
• Two sub-directories are created off the storage directory root: /private and /public.
• The /private sub-directory contains Private Health Information (PHI) extracted from incoming DICOM files.
• The anonymizer data file: /private/AnonymizerModel.pkl stores the PHI data in a compressed form.
• The various /private/quarantine sub-directories are created as the errors are detected in incoming files.
• The /private/phi_exportsub-directory stores all PHI patient lookup files created from the Export View by clicking Create Patient Lookup
• The /public sub-directory contains the anonymized files with structure: /public/[anonymized_patient_id]/[study_uid]/[series_uid]/[instance_uid].dcm
• The storage directory cannot be changed after project creation.

Modalities

• The Modalities dialog lists the imaging modalities typically found in radiology.
• Click a line item to select/unselect a modality. A selected modality will be highlighted in green.
• The Anonymizer will only accept files with modalities matching those selected here.
• There is a one-to-many relationship between a modality and storage class.
• The Anonymizer will automatically create a list of allowed storage classes corresponding to the currently selected modalities.
• Storage classes can be edited by the Storage Classes dialog below.

Storage Classes

• The storage classes dialog lists all the current DICOM storage classes defined by the standard.
• The list of storage classes implied by the modality selection above can be confirmed and/or edited here.
• Click a line item to select/unselect a storage class. A selected storage class will be highlighted in green.
• After any edits, clicking the From Modalities button will reset to a list of storage classes implied by the currently selected modalities.

Transfer Syntaxes

• The Transfer Syntaxes dialog lists the data formats currently supported by the Anonymizer.
• The first 4 transfer syntaxes do not use image compression and are selected by default.
• The other transfer syntaxes provide support for JPEG image compression with different algorithms.
• The selected storage classes combined with the selected transfer syntaxes determine which DICOM files are accepted by the Anonymizer.
• The presentation and storage contexts, determined by the selected storage classes and transfer syntaxes are used in association negotiation when the Anonymizer acts as SCU and SCP.
• The Anonymizer does not transcode DICOM files from one transfer syntax to another.
• The transfer syntax of DICOM files received by the Anonymizer is preserved in the corresponding anonymized file.

Script File

• The default script file which comes with this Anonymizer contains the instructions to meet the DICOM Standard de-identification protocol described in the corresponding help menu.
• Alternative script files can be loaded using this button to support more complex or legacy projects.
• If a different anonymizer script file is loaded be aware of the limitations as described in the overview section: differences from the Java Version.

Logging Levels

• The Anonymizer generates detailed logging information, capturing program activity at Debug, Info, Warning, Error and Critical levels, and stores it to file.
• There are up to 10 log files (max size: 100MB) in a rotating list.
• Logs path on Windows: [user directory]\AppData\Local\Anonymizer\Logs
• Logs path on MacOS: [user directory]/Library/Logs/Anonymizer/
• Logs path on Linux: [user directory]/Logs/Anonymizer/
• The log output of both DICOM libraries PYDICOM and PYNETDICOM used by the Anonymizer can be controlled using this dialog.
• Warning: when debug output is enabled for PYDICOM, PHI data will be written to the logs.
• Open Log Viewer is an excellent free multi-platform for viewing log files for more advanced users.