Starviewer and its comparison with other open-source DICOM viewers using a novel hierarchical evaluation framework

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging Software
• Open-Source Development

Background:

• Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) viewers are essential for clinical practice.
• Existing viewers may lack adaptability for specific user needs and evolving functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce Starviewer, a C++ DICOM viewer with an extensible architecture.
• Propose an adaptable evaluation framework for DICOM viewers based on weighted criteria and user profiles.

Main Methods:

• Developed Starviewer using open-source libraries, emphasizing modularity and extension support.
• Created a hierarchical evaluation framework adaptable to user needs and profiles.
• Compared Starviewer against four other open-source viewers using the developed framework.

Main Results:

• Starviewer offers modular design with custom extension capabilities for clinical image diagnosis.
• The evaluation framework provides comprehensible scores and aids in prioritizing development.
• Comparative scores: Horos (7.7), Starviewer (6.2), Weasis (6.0), Ginkgo CADx (4.1), medInria (3.8).

Conclusions:

• Starviewer provides essential features and a modular design for tailored functionalities.
• The evaluation framework is a flexible tool for assessing viewer maturity and development goals.
• The framework can complement existing software maturity models.