Informatics in radiology (infoRAD): portable toolkit for providing straightforward access to medical image data

Computer-aided analysis of medical images usually involves the development of custom software applications that interpret, process, and ultimately display medical image data. The interpretation stage involves decoding the image data and presenting them to the application developer for further processing. A toolkit has been created specifically for interpreting medical image data; it thus acts as a platform for development of medical imaging applications. The toolkit, which is referred to as NeatMed, is intended to reduce development time by eliminating the need for the application developer to deal directly with medical image data. NeatMed was implemented by using Java, a programming language with a range of attractive features including ease of use, extensive support material, and portability. NeatMed was developed specifically for use in a research environment. Straightforward to use and well documented, it is intended as an alternative to commercially available medical imaging toolkits. NeatMed currently provides support for the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine and Analyze medical image file formats. Support material including sample source code is available via the Internet; links to related resources are also provided. Most important, NeatMed is freely available and its continuing development is motivated by requests and suggestions from end users.