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Sidexis4 Conversion

Michael Satterfield
Updated

ONLY FOR INTERNAL REFERENCE BY CONVERSION TECHNICIANS, DO NOT PROVIDE OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION

Troubleshooting

NOTE 1: Don't start the xvhost push until you see if there are any large CT files being converted. Check these converted files in DicomViewer to see if the Modality is CT, and if the image slices display correctly.  Follow the instructions here to review and correct CT files:  3D Images

NOTE 2:  You will also need to follow the instructions here to correct the patient table:  Patient Table Fix

 NOTE 3: Use Extra ID as the patient ID

IMPORTANT - Use the one-at-a-time parameter in the xvhost push if you are starting the upload after the conversion is done.

 ODBC connection:

Name:  Sidexis

Driver:  SQL Server

Server instance:  typically  SERVER\SIDEXIS_SQL

Default database:  Sidexis

NOTE:  Click the down arrow to the right of the Server text box to search for the correct SQL Server.  If it doesn't find the SQL Server, it will display no results:

Sidexis1.png

If this happens, look for an existing SQL Server instance named "PDATA_SQLEXPRESS" and double-click it to see the name of the Server:

Sidexis2.png

Copy this server name and port number to your new "Sidexis" entry, and then change the default database to Sidexis:

Sidexis3.png

For the login, try Windows NT authentication first, however if that does not work, select SQL Server authentication and try these credentials:

Login ID:  sa

Password:  2BeChanged!

Sidexis4.png

Change the default database to SIDEXIS

Sidexis5.png

Image path is normally called \PDATA\ with subfolders P_0000, P_0001, etc:

Sidexis6.png

NOTE:  IF THE CONVERSION WON'T START, SEE TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION FOR  Sidexis 4 below

Troubleshooting

Patient Table Fix

If the converter gives this error after starting:  Unable to open "patient" table of Sidexis 4 database.

Sid4TS1.png

Then run SQL Server Management Studio, and connect to the server instance for SIDEXIS_SQL

Right-click on the SIDEXIS database and choose Tasks > Back Up.  Make a backup copy of the database.

Navigate to the SIDEXIS database table dbo.Patient

Right-click the table and choose Design.  Click in the empty row at the bottom, and type in a new column name ExternalPatientID with these settings:

Sid4TS2.png

  1. For the Column Name, type:  ExternalPatientID

  2. For the Data Type, select either:  nvarchar(32) , nvarchar(50), nvarchar(MAX)

  3. Check the box for Allow Nulls

 Then choose File menu > Save Patient

NOTE:  If most of the CardID values in the patient table were blank, you can skip the next step.

Then run this SQL command:

update dbo.Patient set ExternalPatientID = CardId

This should copy the values from the CardID column to the ExternalPatientID column.

Then retry the conversion.

3D Images

If the client or IC mentions there are 3D Images in the old imaging software to be converted, do not start push loop before completing steps below for modality and image compression type.

Modality

  1. Confirming Presence of 3D Images

    1. Set up converter as normal. When on the final screen, DO NOT check box next to Skip patient preview and image verification screen. We need to view this information before starting the conversion.

    2. Once the patient preview window loads (this may take minutes to hours depending on speed of machine and size of database), go to the converter folder > Logs > Logging_Images... .txt

    3. This file displays all images the converter found in the database. Search the file for "3D Volumes". If 3D Volumes are present, start the converter but DO NOT start push loop.

  2. Checking Modality of 3D Images

    1. Once the conversion is complete, go to converter folder and launch DicomViewer.exe as Administrator

    2. In File Explorer navigate to \converter\Apteryx-Images folder and sort files largest to smallest

    3. Drag any file larger than 30 MB to the DicomViewer.exe pane and locate the modality. Do this for several large files.

    4. If the modalities are all CT, begin push loop as normal. If modalities are CR, continue following these steps.

  3. Fixing the Modality of 3D Images

NOTE:  YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THE CONVERSION IS COMPLETE BEFORE RUNNING NEXT STEPS

If the 3D file preview looks fine in DICOMViewer but the modality is CR instead of CT, you can use Brian's new "check_and_fix_dicom_cts.exe"
 

Brian Tinker: This script: Scans a directory for DICOM files with .DCM or .DIC ...

posted in CX - Customer Onboarding / Conversion - Apteryx Internal on Thursday, March 13, 2025 12:02 PM

This script:

  • Scans a directory for DICOM files with .DCM or .DIC extensions.

  • Checks if the DICOM has multiple frames (NumberOfFrames > 1).

  • If so, verifies if Modality = 'CT'. If not, it changes the Modality to 'CT'.

  • Saves the modified DICOM file, overwriting the original DICOM file.

  • Writes a log file to the directory where the DCM files are stored. Log file name:  dicom_modality_fix.log

How to use:

  1. Run:  check_and_fix_dicom_cts.exe “<PATH TO CT FILES>”

  2. It overwrites the original file, so make sure to check the updated sample files to confirm they're still valid and have the correct modality, and that the slices display correctly.

OLD METHOD TO FIX MODALITY:

  1. Create a folder within the converter folder called something like Apteryx-Images-Wrong-Modality

  2. Cut large images (over 30 MB) from Apteryx-Images to the new folder you've made

  3. Transfer Sante DICOM Editor to client's desktop, unzip, and install the .exe

  4. Launch Sante DICOM Editor > File > Batch > Modify DICOM Tag

  5. Point to the Wrong Modality folder you've made

  6. Tags should be:

    1. Group = 0008

    2. Element = 0060

    3. Tag = CT

  1. Once the Editor is done processing the images, it will output files with the suffix _mod to the folder you pointed it to.

  2. Sort the wrong modality folder by date modified (newest to oldest) and cut all _mod files from that folder to the Apteryx-Images folder

  3. Run the XVHost Push as normal