PURPOSE
The dcm4chee is an open source software for making a high-performance DICOM server. The process of dcm4chee is recorded in a log as text file. It takes a lot of time to read the log file for checking DICOM server performance. Therefore, we made a log analyzer for dcm4chee, which compiles the statistics on image transfer between DICOM server and imaging devices.
METHODS
The log analysis program was written in Perl (practical extraction and report language). ChartDirector, a chart component for creating charts for web applications was also used. The log analyzer was installed in DICOM server and invoked with a common gateway interface (CGI). The dcm4chee-2.18.1-mysql version using MySQL database software was used in this study. The hardware of our DICOM server for educational use was an Apple Mac mini computer (2.6GHz, Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM) and two 6TB hard disks.
RESULTS
Users can specify the beginning and end dates to analyze in the start page of this log analyzer. Three types of output can also be chosen, which are the number of transferred images from each imaging device to the DICOM server in sequence, the total number of transferred images from each imaging device to the server in the period, and the temporal variation in free disk space of the server. These results are shown in the tabular and graph form on a web page.
CONCLUSION
The log analyzer in this study makes it easy to get information on the usage of a dcm4chee DICOM server and should be available for the management of the PACS system using dcm4chee.