HIMMS and RSNA
IHE
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise

Test Plan for Print Composers
Version  9.0.0
20-September-2005

Marco Eichelberg,  Klaus Kleber, Jörg Riesmeier,
Adapted for IHE Year 5 by David Maffitt

   Kuratorium OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany
Institute for Microtherapy, Universitätsstraße 142, 44799 Bochum, Germany
Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA

Contents:

Introduction
Submission of Results
Print Composer Test 522

1. Configuring and Using the DICOMscope Print SCP
   
2. Test Procedure
   
3. Syntactical Validation of DICOM Print Communication
   
4. Visual Validation of DICOM Print Communication
   

Test Cases: PDI

1. Test Case 1931: Media “Reader” Read RSNA 2004 CD
   
2. Test Case 1932: Media “Reader” Reads Vendor CDs
   

Introduction

Print Composer Actors are required to implement the IHE “Print Request with Presentation LUT“ Transaction defined in the Technical Framework. Interoperability between Print Composer and Print Server actors is a prerequisite for a successful performance of this transaction. 
Section 2 contains a test procedure describing how Print Composers can be tested with the IHE MESA tools.  The MESA tools contain a Print Server that implements the requirements of the “Print Request with Presentation LUT” transaction.  It should be noted that interoperability between a Print Composer and the MESA testing Print Server does improve the probability for interoperability between the Print Composer Actor and a Print Server Actor provided by a different vendor, but is in no way a guarantee for interoperability.
You are required to submit at least two log files to project management: One log file showing successful printing to PRINTSCP1 and a second log file showing printing to PRINTSCP2. See section 2 for details.

Submission of Results

Test descriptions below inform the reader to “submit results to the Project Manager”. This is does not mean “email”. The current submission process should be documented by the Project Manager, but will not include emailing files directly to the Project Manager.

Print Composer Test 522

The IHE MESA Tools contain, among other components, a Java-based GUI application called “DICOMscope”.  This application is used in the test procedure for Print Composers.  Installation instructions and a user manual for the DICOMscope application are provided in different documents with the IHE MESA distribution.  The following discussion assumes that the application has been successfully installed and that the user has a basic understanding of the application’s concepts as laid out in the user manual.  However, not all functions offered by the DICOMscope application are required or used in this test procedure.

Configuring and Using the DICOMscope Print SCP

The DICOMscope Print SCP shares a common configuration file with other parts of the DICOMscope application.  The configuration file is a simple text file and can be edited with any text editor.  The overall structure of the configuration file is described in the DICOMscope manual.  Of interest for the Print SCP are only the parts of the file that are started with the identifier [[COMMUNICATION]].
DICOMscope allows to have multiple Print SCPs operating in parallel, with different configurations. Each configuration is described by a separate section, which is started by a section name in square brackets that must be unique for the configuration file, e. g. [MY_PRINTER].  Section names should consist only of uppercase letters, numbers and the underscore character.  The section name is followed by a number of entries of the form keyword = value.  The following table describes all keywords that can be used to configure a DICOMscope Print SCP instance.

When the DICOMscope application is started, a separate Print SCP application is started for each section in the configuration file correctly defining a Print SCP.  As an alternative, a Print SCP can also be started manually without the DICOMscope GUI.  The command line Print SCP is called “dcmprscp” and is automatically installed together with DICOMscope.  The following command line options are available:

dcmprscp: DICOM basic grayscale print management SCP
usage: dcmprscp [options]

general options:
    -h  --help          print this help text and exit
    -v  --verbose       verbose mode, print actions
    -d     --debug         debug mode,    print debug information
processing options:
    -c  --config        [f]ilename: string
                        process using settings    from configuration file
    -p  --printer       [n]ame: string (default: 1st printer    in cfg file)
                        select printer with    identifier [n] from cfg file
    +d  --dump          print all DIMSE messages
    -l  --logfile       print to log file instead of stdout

The name of the configuration file (option –-config) and the printer name (the section heading from the configuration file, option –-printer) should always be passed on the command line.  If the tool is started with the verbose and dump options, a detailed log of it’s operations including a complete log of the DIMSE communication is written to the console.  The –-logfile option causes this information to be written into a text file in the log subdirectory for later examination. 
When running, the Print SCP accepts a single DICOM association at a time – multiple clients in parallel are not supported.  Since Print SCP is not connected to a real printer, it does not create hardcopies.  Instead, a print job is stored in the local database (which is shared with the other parts of the DICOMscope application).  Each film of a print job is stored as a DICOM Stored Print object.  Each image of a print job is stored as a DICOM Hardcopy Grayscale Image object.  When Print SCP is run in parallel with the DICOMscope application, the DICOMscope database browser will indicate that new objects have arrived and will allow to load and display these objects.  Hardcopy Grayscale images can be loaded and displayed as any other DICOM image, however, specific characteristics like a Presentation LUT or the image’s polarity are not preserved in the Hardcopy Grayscale image but in the Stored Print object.  Loading a Stored Print causes a preview of the hardcopy to be rendered in DICOMscope’s print preview panel.  This display correctly renders Presentation LUT, Polarity etc.

Test Procedure

The IHE “Print Request with Presentation LUT“ transaction defines minimum requirements for Print Composer actors.  In particular, the Presentation LUT SOP Class must be supported, and Presentation LUTs must be referenced on Basic Film Box level (in accordance with DICOM Correction Proposal 173).  However, Print Composers still have many “degrees of freedom” in terms of their support for optional attributes.  Therefore, we do not propose a static set of tests for a Print Composer, but instead a (rather general) procedure.  The DICOMscope software default installation defines two Print SCPs:

PRINTSCP1 accepts associations on port 10005.  This Print SCP supports most optional features of the DICOM print protocol:

• Image display formats 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 2x3, 3x3, 3x4, 3x5, 4x4 and 4x5 are supported for Portrait orientation, and 1x1, 2x1 etc. for Landscape,
• All standard defined terms for Border Density, Empty Image Density, Film Destination, Film Size ID, Magnification Type, Medium Type and Requested Resolution ID are supported,
• Min Density, Trim, Requested Image Size and Requested Decimate/Crop Behavior are supported,
• Smoothing Type is supported (value: NONE),
• Images can be transmitted with either 8 or 12 bits per pixel,
• The Affected SOP Class UID is always included in N-CREATE-RSP messages,
• Presentation LUTs with a number of entries other than 256 or 4096 are accepted.

PRINTSCP2 accepts associations on port 10006.  This Print SCP is restricted to the minimum of features required by the IHE technical framework:

• Image display formats must be 1x1
• Border Density, Empty Image Density, Requested Resolution ID, Min Density, Smoothing Type, Trim, Requested Image Size and Requested Decimate/Crop Behavior are not supported,
• None of the standard defined terms for Film Destination and Medium Type are supported
• Only the required terms for Film Size ID and Magnification Type defined in the IHE Technical Framework are supported,
• Images can be transmitted with either 8 or 12 bits per pixel,
• The Affected SOP Class UID is never included in N-CREATE-RSP messages,
• Presentation LUTs with a number of entries other than 256 or 4096 are rejected. Presentation LUTs with 256 entries can only be used with 8 bit/pixel images, LUTs with 4096 entries can only be used with 12 bit/pixel images.
• Only the default Implicit VR Little Endian Transfer Syntax is negotiated.

Testing a Print Composer should start with PRINTSCP1.  Vendors should create a couple of print jobs exercising the different options available to their Print Composer implementations.  The results of these print jobs should be checked as described in the following two sections. 
If the print jobs succeed, the tests should be repeated with PRINTSCP2, which poses many restrictions on the Print Composer.  If printing with PRINTSCP2 also succeeds, probability is high that printing on other Print Server actors will also succeed. 
A third, optional series of tests can be performed by changing the following setting in the DICOMscope configuration file for PRINTSCP2 and repeating the tests with PRINTSCP2:

     Supports12Bit =  false

Syntactical Validation of DICOM Print Communication

The DICOMscope Print SCP creates detailed logs of all DICOM communication with a Print SCU.  The log files are in plain text format and can be opened and printed with any text editor.  They are located in the log subdirectory of the DICOMscope application folder.  The filenames have the form

     PrintSCP_XXXX_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.log

====================== BEGIN    A-ASSOCIATE-RQ =====================
          Our Implementation Class UID:    1.2.276.0.7230010.3.0.3.4.1
          Our Implementation Version Name:    OFFIS_DCMTK_341
          Their Implementation Class    UID:    1.2.276.0.7230010.3.0.3.4.1
          Their Implementation Version Name:    OFFIS_DCMTK_341
          Application Context Name:    1.2.840.10008.3.1.1.1
          Calling Application Name:    DCMPSTATE
          Called Application Name:     LOCALPRINTER_1
          Responding Application Name: 
          Our Max PDU Receive Size: 32768
          Their Max PDU Receive Size: 32768
          Presentation Contexts:
               Context ID:        1 (Proposed)
                 Abstract Syntax: =BasicGrayscalePrintManagementMetaSOPClass
                 Proposed SCP/SCU Role: Default
                 Accepted SCP/SCU Role: Default
                 Proposed Transfer Syntax(es):
                =BigEndianExplicit
                =LittleEndianExplicit
                =LittleEndianImplicit
               Context ID:        3 (Proposed)
                 Abstract Syntax: =PresentationLUTSOPClass
                 Proposed SCP/SCU Role: Default
                 Accepted SCP/SCU Role: Default
                 Proposed Transfer Syntax(es):
                =BigEndianExplicit
                =LittleEndianExplicit
                =LittleEndianImplicit
          Requested Extended Negotiation:    none
          Accepted Extended Negotiation:    none
          ======================= END    A-ASSOCIATE-RQ ======================

Figure 3.3.1: Print SCP Log – Association Negotiation
Figure 3.3.2 below shows an example for the DIMSE message log. It shows a N-SET request sent to a Basic Grayscale Image Box object, followed by the N-SET response from the Print SCP.  Evaluating this part of the log requires a basic understanding of the DICOM Message Service Element (DIMSE) and the definition of the DICOM Print Management Service Class.  In particular it should be checked whether a Presentation LUT instance has been created by the Print Composer and whether it has been correctly referenced (activated) as part of the Basic Film Box N-CREATE request.  The status codes sent back by the Print SCP for each message should be checked.  For most error and warning codes returned by the Print SCP, additional information is stored in the log file (preceding the response message).

===================== INCOMING    DIMSE MESSAGE ====================
          Message Type                  : N-SET RQ
          Message ID                    : 5
          Requested SOP Class UID       : BasicGrayscaleImageBoxSOPClass
          Requested SOP Instance UID    :    1.2.276.0.7230010.3.4.2139363186.2206.960455839.7
          Data Set                      : present

# Dicom-Data-Set
          # Used TransferSyntax:    BigEndianExplicit
          (2020,0010) US    1                                      #     2,     1  ImageBoxPosition
          (2020,0110) SQ    (Sequence with explicit Length #=1)    #2097262,     1  BasicGrayscaleImageSequence
                 (fffe,e000) na    (Item with    explicit Length  #=9)       #2097254,  1     Item
                  (0028,0002) US    1                                      #     2,     1  SamplesPerPixel
                  (0028,0004) CS    [MONOCHROME2]                          #    12,     1  PhotometricInterpretation
                  (0028,0010) US    1024                                   #     2,     1  Rows
                  (0028,0011) US    1024                                   #     2,     1  Columns
                  (0028,0100) US    16                                     #     2,     1  BitsAllocated
                  (0028,0101) US    12                                     #     2,     1  BitsStored
                  (0028,0102) US    11                                     #     2,     1  HighBit
                  (0028,0103) US    0                                      #     2,     1  PixelRepresentation
                  (7fe0,0010) OW       0160\0160\0160\0160\0177\0177\0177\0177\017d\017d... #2097152,  1     PixelData
                 (fffe,e00d) na       (ItemDelimitationItem for re-encoding) #     0,     1  ItemDelimitationItem
          (fffe,e0dd) na    (SequenceDelimitationItem for re-enc.)    #     0,  1     SequenceDelimitationItem
          ======================= END DIMSE    MESSAGE =======================

===================== OUTGOING    DIMSE MESSAGE ====================
          Message Type                  : N-SET RSP
          Message ID Being Responded To : 5
          Affected SOP Class UID        : none
          Affected SOP Instance UID     : none
          Data Set                      : present
          DIMSE Status                  : 0x0000: Success

# Dicom-Data-Set
          # Used TransferSyntax: UnknownTransferSyntax
          (2020,0010) US    1                                      #     2,     1  ImageBoxPosition
          ======================= END DIMSE    MESSAGE =======================

Figure 3.3.2: Print SCP Log – DIMSE Communication

Visual Validation of DICOM Print Communication

The second step of a print job validation is the visual test.  The stored print object related to the print job should be located in DICOMscope’s database browser and should be loaded into DICOMscope’s Print Preview panel (e. g. by double-clicking on the Stored Print object).  The Print Preview should display a correct softcopy look-alike of the intended hardcopy.  In particular, the images on the Print Preview are displayed with the appropriate Presentation LUT applied.  If DICOMscope is calibrated for the current softcopy display, GSDF is also correctly applied.  It should be noted that certain optional attributes such as Magnification Type, Smoothing Type, Requested Image Size and Requested Decimate/Crop Behavior are ignored in the Print Preview.  Scaling of the images is always done with a bilinear interpolation.  The image data, polarity, Presentation LUT, Image Display Format and Orientation are observed, however.

Test Cases: PDI

These test cases are generally associated with the Radiology PDI profile

Test Case 1932: Media “Reader” Reads Vendor CDs

The purpose of this test is for the Display actor to open the DICOMDIR file on CDs provided by vendors for the RSNA 2004 PDI demonstration and to render the composite objects on those CDs.

References

RAD TF

Instructions

To run this test, follow these steps:

1. Obtain the vendor CDs from the RSNA 2004 PDI Demonstration. If you do not have a physical copy of the CDs, download the ISO images from the MESA distribution page and create a CD from the ISO image.
2. Obtain the text file VENDOR2004CD.doc from the MESA documentation page. This file will list all of the vendor CDs.
3. Use your DICOM application to open the DICOMDIR file on each vendor CD.
4. Select and display all of the studies on the CD. For those studies with multiple images, you can select a small subset of the images.
5. For each set of vendor data, modify the file VENDOR2004CD.doc to indicate if you can successfully render/print the data. Questions are Yes/No. You can add comments at the bottom of the file.

Evaluation

1. Submit the modified text file to the Project Manager.
2. If there are problems with rendering, submit a screen capture demonstrating the problem and/or submit additional documentation in the VENDOR2004CD.doc file.

Supplemental Information