PMOD Release Notes

Kinetic Modeling | Image Fusion | Image Viewing

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[Release Notes]

Version 3.3 Release Notes | [ All Release Notes in PDF ]

The 3.3 product release was focused on stability and user interface improvements.
In addition, the functionality was further extended as described below:

PSAMPLE

The gold standard of PET quantification is kinetic modeling using information about the tracer concentration in arterial blood. To promote wider use of PET quantification Swisstrace (www.swisstrace.ch) has introduced a new online blood sampling device for humans and animals. It is highly sensitive and accurate due to coincidence counting with LYSO crystals, and the unique design makes it fully MR compatible. PMOD is proud to provide the PSAMPLE data acquisition software for this sophisticated instrument.

General

New:

Introduction of a buffer which allows using data created in one tool in another tool without saving them first to disk.
New option to collapse user interface elements which are rarely used. This is particularly useful with smaller computer screens.
Definition of the default color tables for the major modalities (PET, SPECT, MR, CT
Support for modality-specific color table presets.
New display option which allows including the color bar directly into the image area.
Saving of color table presets with absolute thresholds. This is particularly useful for CT images.
New split color table optimized for assessing difference images.
Improved visual support for the reorientation of images in the loading window.
Generalized facility for the short-axis reorientation of cardiac PET data.
Direct import of DICOM images into a PMOD database without requiring a DICOM server.
Better SUV inspector, which also allows displaying % injected dose per ml.
Configuration which remembers all window sizes and applies when the window is opened again.
Replacement of a value range by a single value.
Visual assistant for loading images which are not in standard orientation.
Monitors for status of the DICOM and transaction servers can be started from the ToolBox.
PVC (MR based) extended by Gray matter statistics calculation and comparison (corrected vs. non corrected PET).
Temporal MIP which works in the time domain: For each pixel it uses the maximal value of all time frames to create a volumetric data set.

PALZ

New:

Acceptance test to verify the tool operation.
Option to use a streamlined and simplified user interface.
The new criterion "PET Score" was implemented according to Herholz et al., "Evaluation of a calibrated FDG PET score as a biomarker for progression in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment", J Nucl Med, 2011 52:1218- 1226.
When loading data different from FDG PET a notification message appears.

Changed:

Redesign of the report pages.
The page for the normalization inspection has been reduced to showing a single, big fusion image with the template.

PKIN

New:

Support for the conversion of whole blood activity into plasma activity by the use of a plasma fraction function. Plasma fractions can be loaded and models fitted to the plasma. Furthermore, population functions can also be applied if no data is available.
Representation of the model curves in a high-density fashion to more accurately see the shape which is used in the calculations.
Support for saving particular sets of model parameters either under a specific name, or as the global default parameters for a model.
Inclusion of the area-under-the-curve(AUC) calculations.
Buttons to step through the loaded data sets.

Changed:

The curves available for display are controlled by the selected panel. Preferences of the user are maintained during a session.
The compartment models with a spillover contribution (vB>0) may result in slightly different model curves. This is due to a correction in the averaging procedure of whole-blood.

PFUS

Substantial user interface improvements were done to make data processing more intuitive. In particular, the first page was significantly revised to make it easy for the user to start with a reasonable initial match. The automatic matching methods now always take into account manual adjustments of the user.

New:

Calculation of the inverse of the current transformation is always possible. By this approach, the inverse of any series of combined transformation can be obtained.
Ability to shift the input series in the large fusion mode.
Defaults added for mouse brain normalization.
Rigid matching: Two new options are available allowing to enable/disable the fitting of rotation angles and scaling factors.

Changed:

The automatic methods now always take into account the initial positioning which can be done by aligning the centers of the data volumes, their origins, two manually placed landmarks, or the result of manual adjustments.
Transform saving has been revised to always encompass all of the applied transformations.
Reslicing is refreshed when the pixel size is changed.

VOIs

The VOI functionality was again significantly extended with an emphasis on region growing methods.

New:

3D region growing method for hot and cold lesions.
Interactive 3D region growing, which also allows extending VOIs.
Drawing mode in which the vertexes snap to the pixel edges, and where the contours have staircase shape enclosing exactly the including pixels.
Interpolation of contour VOIs across slices.
Morphological operations on existing VOIs (Erosion, Dilation, Opening, Closing).
Calculation of the intersection VOI of a group of VOIs.
Interactive removal of data from an image by growing a sphere.
Direct outlining of segmented structures into contour VOIs in the external segmentation tool.
Automatic generation of standard brain VOIs in the patient space based on the available atlas templates.

Changed:

Representation of VOIs by closed contour lines in all three plane orientations.
VOI filling is applied in all three plane orientations, with variable degree of transparency.
Improvements of reading and writing VOIs as DICOM RT Structure Sets.

Database

New:

Direct loading of DICOM data into a database without the need for a running a DICOM server.
Direct conversion of native images to database format without an intermediate data set to minimize changes.
Better control of sorting in the list of selected series.
The user-defined ordering and sizing of the columns in the DB loading panel is remembered.

Changed:

Improvements of database configuration, transaction server script generation, data replication, automatic backups and integrity testing.

PVIEW

New:

The MRI-based partial-volume correction optionally produces a new map indicating the pixels which were used for the white-matter activity calculation.
After image series merging the loaded series not automatically disappear.

PXMOD

New:

A new loading tool which automatically performs a short-axis reorientation of the input data, allowing to easily specify a left ventricle VOI as the input curve.
If processing tools are applied to calculated maps, the result is also available on the fusion page.

P3D

New:

Improved speed of volume rendering on multi core systems by calculating textures in parallel.
Introduction of an acceptance test which characterizes the properties of the graphics system and its suitability for P3D.
New HD option for the improved rendering of non-isotropic data.
Optional surface lighting to improve the realistic impression
Additionalpredefinedprotocols.
Predefined protocols can be applied to loaded images.
New variants of predefined protocols.
Collapsing of user interface elements for cleaner interface.

PCARD

New:

Acceptance test to verify the tool operation.
Overlay on the polar plots.
Results viewer supports the loading of two datasets for side-by-side comparison.
Collapsing of user interface elements for cleaner interface.

Data Formats

New:

Multiple DICOM Servers can be easily configured and starting scripts generated.
Support for Enhanced US DICOM objects.
New loaders for Brainvisa and Bruker small animal MR images.

Version 3.2 Release Notes

The 3.2 release incorporates more than 150 improvements. The main focuses were the following:

Complete work-flow oriented revision of the PXMOD tool. Additionally, the image fusion tool is directly integrated into PXMOD to support the pixel-oriented comparison of parametric maps.
Support for various automated partial-volume correction (PVC) methods. A VOI-based approach implements Rousset's GTM method. The VOIs can be manually outlined or automatically derived from standard VOI templates. A brain MRI based approach implements the method proposed by Muller-Gartner. It includes the required PET-MR matching as well as the MRI segmentation without the need for any user interaction.
Ability to calculate and apply the inverse of all transforms (rigid and elastic) calculated in the fusion tool. Furthermore, VOIs can now also be transformed, not only images. Together, these new features allow easily transferring template VOIs to the patient images for performing the template-based statistics on the original PET images.
A new version (ATL) was developed which supports all the features required for CFR part 11 compliant data analyses. It is mainly intended for CROs and includes full audit trails, data protection and advanced reporting.

General

New:

External tool for VOI-based partial volume (GTM method proposed by Rousset).
External tool for the partial volume correction of brain PET images based on the gray/white matter segmentation of a matched MRI series (method proposed by Muller-Gartner).
External tool with two variants for the skull-stripping of MRI brain images.
Support request facility: the user can capture screens illustrating the problem, combine them with the console output and a problem description, and send the material with a single mouse-click to the PMOD support.
Mouse-operated zooming: Holding down the "Ctrl" and scrolling the mouse wheel activates zooming.
Focus during zooming: The hot spot of the image (selected VOI or planes triangulation point) now always remains visible during zooming.
Lower threshold default: The user can now configure that the lower threshold of the color table defaults to zero, not the minimal value (excluding HU).
Color of the orthogonal crosshair lines can be defined.
Split to slices tool added.
Use of the selected patient info selected in the database for filling the DICOM Q/R information.
The keyboard shortcuts have been extended and can be listed from the context menu.
Report paper size configuration: A4, letter.

Changed:

Interactive zooming can now be performed in all planes, not only the active one.
Improvements of the compare mode in the viewing tool.
General information such as Origins, Pixel Size etc moved from the Data Inspector window to the Info window.
The external tools can now also be called from a new button in the image side bar, and interrupted during execution.

PXMOD

The PXMOD user interface was completely revised to clarify the work-flow and improve the ease of use. Furthermore, several functional improvements were introduced. Existing users are kindly referred to the update documentation and to the examples in the PMOD Workbook.

New:

Parallel processing: The PXMOD models requiring significant processing time have been parallelized so that the calculation time is decreased by a factor approximately proportional to the number of processing cores (1 core is always spared).
New model: Basis function method for 2-tissue compartment model according to Hong and Fryer, Neuroimage. 2010;51(1):164-72. This model is particularly suitable to estimate the individual rate constants of irreversible tracers in addition to the flux.
New model: Graphical model (RE-GP Plot) developed by Zhou Y et al, Neuroimage. 2010;49(4):2947-57. This model is an alternative to the Logan plot which is not prone to bias due to high noise levels. While the results of VOI analyses are equivalent, the performance of the Zhou plot should be better with pixel-wise data.
Model combination: The six different reference models for calculating BPnd have been incorporated into a convenience model which calculates BPnd using all methodologies of interest.
An optional segmentation step was introduced which allows interactively creating a mask for the restriction of the pixel-wise calculation.
A VOI outlining step was integrated into the workflow for avoiding the necessity to create VOI data in a different processing session.

Changed:

The partial volume correction models PVE and PVE2 were retired. A much improved PVC functionality is now generally available in the external tools.

PKIN

Note: The graphical plots which have non-standard time on the x-axis have been re-implemented, so that t* can be specified in plain acquisition time. This makes it simpler to use the same value segment for all regional TACs. The old implementations are still available, now with "Legacy" in the name.

New:

Coupled studies fitting: Data from different acquisitions can now be processed in a common fit which allows the coupling of parameters across data sets. A parameter coupling can be REGIONAL (a common value is estimated in all coupled regions with the same name, e.g. for k3) or GLOBAL (a common value is estimated in all coupled regions, e.g. for k4).
Residual weighting: Additional flexibility was added to the weighting for taking the effects of radioactive decay and frame duration into account.
The weighted and/or the raw residuals can be shown.Randomized fitting can now also be applied in couple fitting.
The Patlak Reference model was added.
A new graphical method was added. It allows calculatingVt, Vnd, and therefore also BPnd. Furthermore, the shape of the plot gives an indication whether there is specific binding or not not. Ito H et al, A new graphic plot analysis for determination of neuroreceptor binding in positron emission tomography studies. Neuroimage. 2010;49(1):578-86.
Loader for the Gamma Medica blood sampler format.
The curve control elements can be configured to be shown beside the curves rather than below. This improves the layout for 16:9 screens.

Changed:

The fitting history now also includes the weighting and valid point definition (not yet the configuration of the different blood items).
Copy to clipboard: the precision was extended to 16 digits.
The %SE of the macroparameters is now also retrieved from a KM file.
If a file is loaded for which the model is not configured, it is automatically added to the model list.

PFUS

New:

All matching procedures can optionally calculate the inverse transform.
Rigid Matching: dedicated presets for the matching of human or animal images are available.
The matching tools can now also be used in the external tools and therefore in pipe processing.
The template image used in the PALZ tool is now included in the list of brain templates. Normalizations can therefore be prepared for PALZ in a batch matching mode.

Changed:

Rigid transforms (manual, automatic) have been unified and can be used interchangeably.

VOIs

New:

Transformation of contour and template VOIs using the transformation matrices obtained in image matching. This allows for instance to transform the standard AAL VOIs to the patient space and apply them to the original PET images.
A VOI template for mouse images was added (courtesy of Martine Mirrione, BNL).
Button for centering the VOI at the enclosed Max or Min pixel.
Object VOI properties: The different properties of a VOI can now be edited in a dialog window. For example, object VOIs can have well-defined sizes in all dimensions (e.g. as an ellipsoid) and rotated around all directions.
VOI bounding boxes are visualized in the MIP images.
Object maps (*.obj) of the Analyze software can be loaded in PMOD, used for statistics, converted into vertex VOIs, etc.
Load multiple VOI files at the same time.
Option to show the VOI name if mouse is moved over VOI in the image. Works for both contour and template VOIs.
Outlining function which turns an image object map (objects are represented by distinct integers) into a set of contour VOIs.
The statistics results can be copied to the clipboard.
Cropping is now also supported for template VOIs.

Changed:

Synchronization of VOIs and data sets: the initial setting of the synchronization box can now be configured per PMOD module.
Additional information is saved to the pixel dump file.
Cropping now allows creating a new study instead of overwriting.
The iso-contouring can now also be restricted by a template VOI.

Database

New:

Saving in "real" number format: Some data require the representation as real numbers to be saved accurately enough. In this case databases can now be configured to allow saving in dedicated PMOD DICOM objects which support real numbers.
The information of the selected patient can be used in the DICOM Query/Retrieve window.
Filter extensions: the availability of components such as Captures or VOIs can be used for filtering.
Ability to "pair" two image series for applying PVC in a batch.
The project definition is now inherited from the loaded images to the result images.
Images are now written to the database in the new "Enhanced" object definition.
When images are exported the fields edited in the database are replaced in the corresponding DICOM elements. Furthermore, the output IOD can be selected.
A private definition for saving float values to the database was introduced, ensuring highest numeric precision. These objects are converted into standard DICOM objects when exported from the database.

Changed:

If more than one database is configured, PMOD remembers the least recently used one after restarting.

PVIEW

New:

Support for the fused viewing of images from hybrid acquisitions.
Split to slices tool added.
Tool to transfer images from PMOD to ImageJ.
Scaling of curves (for calibration purposes) when sending them to the PKIN tool.

P3D

Changed:

The "Texture" tab was removed. All loaded data sets can now used for texturing.

PCARD

Changed:

The automatic procedures for short-axis reorientation and myocardium detection were improved for 82Rb data.
The PMOD-specific segmentation of the myocardium was removed from the configuration.

Data Formats

DICOM Special Cases: can now be exported and imported and therefore easily shared.
Workaround to support the loading of Bioscan CT DICOM data.
Interpretation of private information for loading dynamic GE SPECT DICOM images with proper values scaling.
When a DICOMDIR file is dragged into PMOD all series listed by the DICOMDIR are loaded.

Version 3.1

General

New:

During the installation of the new version the configuration of the previous version can be imported.
New color tables added.
The list menu of the color tables now includes icons representing the coloring of the different tables.
New interface to the ITK (Insight Toolkit). It is exploited by a new external tool which allows to apply 28 image processing filters, and in the segmentation tool which offers ITK-based segmentations.
A pipe tool was introduced for multistudy processing. For example: Loading [scaling | smoothing | replacing ] saving.
A new external tool was added for starting scripts of the operating system.
Dual-screen support: Menus are correctly shown, and dialog windows are shown on the secondary screen.
Printing of the help pages is supported.

Changed:

When merging loaded series into a dynamic study the user can define which series are used and in which order.
When merging loaded series which cover parts of an object (table positions) into a single study the user can define which series are used and in which order.
The logging was improved.

DICOM Database Server

New:

Free text search in the study and series descriptions.Viewer for loading JPEG and TIFF images which are saved in the database.
Free text comments which are related to certain image series can be saved in the DB.
New "Flat" selection mode with all series in a single list.
Ability to switch off list updating after every change of a filter element.
Transaction Server: A facility was added which generates an operating system specific starting script for the transaction server.
Arrow buttons added for stepping through the patients list.
It is now possible to filter for more than one modality by an OR combination.

Fixed

Sometimes entries remained in the Projects list although all related data had been removed.
Sometimes could disappear from a patient, although the user had chosen not to delete the attached components when deleting images.

VOIs

New:

Regular geometric VOIs were added which are not consisting of ROIs, so that they can be scaled in all directions. With this function an enclosing VOI can much quicker be defined.
Single pixels can be added or removed from a VOI.
Extended operations on the contour level. Contours can be additive (adding the included pixels) or subtractive (removing the including pixels) for the VOI.
Facility for applying operations at the contour level.
Extended operations on the VOI level. VOIs can be merged to form new VOIs. During the merge, VOIs can be additive or subtractive, as the contours. This allows to easily create VOIs with hollow inclusions.
AND operation with a mask (eg gray matter). Only VOI pixels are considered in the statistics which are also in the mask.
Definition of a new VOI which consists of the pixels along a line.
New solution for the case when the data origin has changed which causes the VOIs to be shifted. The VOI origin can be adjusted to the new data origin.
Splitting of a VOI into a set of VOIs on the ROI or contour level.
The VOI ordering in the list can be changed.
Insertion of vertices into a closed contour at any position is now possible.
An eraser of configurable size and shape was added for quickly removing ranges of vertices.
The hammer tool now has a configurable size.Default sizes for the regular objects can be saved.
Drawing contours and Iso-Contours are now also possible in NxM layouts.

PKIN

CAUTION:

Significant Change related to Compartment Models: In prior versions the whole-blood contribution in the operational equation was calculated by interpolation of the whole-blood activity at frame midpoint and multiplication with the frame duration. The calculation has now been changed to the integration of whole-blood activity during the frame duration using the interpolation model of the whole-blood curve. This calculation represents a better approximation of the imaging physics and tends to result in a better modeling of the initial part of the TACs.

As a result of this change, the model curves calculated with version 3.1 differ from that of prior versions, and correspondingly fitting results will also differ. Particularly, the default value of vB may have to be revised.

Change of the Lumped constant for the FDG models. The old default value of 0.437 was replaced by a new value of 0.89. This value had been determined by Graham et al (J Nucl Med 2002; 43:1157-1166) using 11C Glucose and FDG in 2002. Their results: Normal brain: 0.89+/-0.08; cerebellum: 0.78+/-0.11.

New:

Support for Randomized fitting. Random sets of initial parameters are generated and the data fitted. The parameter set among the results with has minimal chi squared is returned as the fitting estimate. Hereby the potential of getting stuck in a local minimum is reduced.
Option for Automatic parameter initialization of compartment models using linear least squares estimates before starting the fit.
Facility for establishing User-defined initial parameters per model.
Improvement of the History functionality. It is now a list to which the user can add manually, and from which he can delete entries. The list shows the model configuration with the estimated parameters and fit criteria. Therefore it can also be used for quickly comparing the results with different model configurations.
Support for Data cloning into an additional window which can be used for a side-by-side comparison of models.
Comments can be added to a data set, and later edited.
Noise can be added to TACs in the Edit Data dialog.
Whole-blood and plasma data can be loaded from a single file.
New model: linear least squares method for 1- and 2-tissue compartment models with blood spillover.
The definition of the valid samples can now be copied to all regions.

PXMOD

CAUTION:

The lumped constant for the FDG models was corrected from the old default value of 0.437 to a new value of 0.89.

New:

New model: Iterative fitting of a 2-tissue compartment model with ridge regression. This model allows controlling the degree how much the individual parameters may be adjusted from their initial values.
Option for separating the blood curves and the tissue TACs into two separate curve displays to improve visibility on small displays.

Changed:

2-tissue compartment model: was extended by additional output parameters (Vt, Vs, k3/k4, flux, ssq).
Partial volume correction method 2: the gray matter threshold is now applied to the smoothed segment, not the original. This reduces the overcorrection problem along the mask boundaries.

PFUS

New:

Brain Normalization II: Default configurations which sets appropriate parameters for human or small animal applications. (Note: Brain Normalization I should NOT be used for small animal applications).
Templates of the rat brain added for normalization, matching and VOI statistics (courtesy of Wynne Schiffer).
Added the functionality to save all registered images at once.
Optional identity line added to the 2D scatter plots of VOI pixel values.

Changed:

VOIs can now also be enabled in the Scientific Output of PFUS.

P3D

New:

Selection of objects directly in the scene by double-clicking.
When rendering VOIs, their color is used for surface shading.
Support for more than one set of orthogonal planes.
By using thresholds, the pixels below a certain value can be set to transparent in the planes.
Plane definitions are also saved in protocols.
Support for more than one marker.
Choice to enable automatic refreshing after changing the VR properties.
Various ITK segmentations available.

Changed:

Revision of the user interface of the control section.
Planes are now also objects in the tree.
Organization of the color profiles for volume rendering improved.
Navigator window is no more hidden in certain situations.

PCARD

New:

Save protocol function for easily saving all information related to a data processing (data, transformations, VOIs). Allows to exactly reproduce a data analysis.
New default for setting the start time of the first frame to zero.
New default for rotating the loaded images to anatomical orientation. This makes the automatic reorientation procedure more robust.
Different default reorientation for Humans and Animals.

Changed:

Scaling in the reorientation function was disabled.
More significant numbers are shown in the data investigator of the polar plot.
RV and LV VOIs are no more required for the processing of static scans.

Data Formats

New:

Native support for JPEG compressed DICOM loader which avoids the use of the JAI ImageIO library which was not available on Mac.
DICOM Advanced settings: Default button added.
DICOM Server: A facility was added which generates an operating system specific starting script for the DICOM server.

Fixed

DICOMDIR: Under certain conditions (records including sequences) the system hanged after deleting a file based on the DICOMDIR listing.
DICOM: When scanning a read protected folder an error occurred (mainly MAC, Linux)

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

On Windows and Linux systems a dedicated JRE is installed together with PMOD and used for the execution of the program. Therefore, automatic upgrading of Java by the operating system should not affect the PMOD installation.
On Mac OS X systems the internal JRE is used and therefore the PMOD installation might be more vulnerable to system updates. PMOD 3.1 has been tested on Snow Leopard (10.6) and Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_15-b03-219) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.1-b02-90, mixed mode)

Version 3.0

General

New:

Inclusion of the database and DICOM server functionality (which were a separate option) into the base license.
During installation, a java runtime environment is extracted together with the PMOD program. This runtime will be used for running PMOD. The advantage is that it will not be changed by automatic updates, and that all libraries are properly included.
Export functionality for the values of all curves in the curve area.
High-quality capture of image are including color bar (Scientific Output).
Additional color lookup tables.
Selectable width for grid overlay to appropriately cover animal studies.
Different shapes for the plane intersection point in the orthogonal display.
Value inspection window when pointing at points in curve area.
Selection of different PET nuclides in the SUV dialog.
External plug-in for averaging of slices and/or time frames.
External plug-in for Segmentation and mask generation.
External plug-in for basic numeric transformations (log, exp,..).
Division function in the scaling tool.
Calculation of the average/stdv image as a new tool in PVIEW.
Loading: Interpolation to an arbitrary pixel size.
Some tools moved to detachable taskbars.

Changed:

No license checkout for servers (DICOM, Database)
The configuration of internal precision was removed. The need for float precision is now automatically determined.
More flexible annotations in reports.

DICOM Database Server

New:

Support for an embedded database (JavaDB, also called "derby"). MySQL is still supported, but not provided any more with the distribution.
Functionality for the replication of data between databases is now available in the database image loader.
Testing of database response in the configuration, similar to DICOM C_ECHO.
Support for encrypted/compressed communication with remote databases.

Fixed:

There was a potential problem when saving component data (VOIs etc.) to a transaction server, depending on the disk performance of the server. To avoid this problem both the transaction server and the clients should use version 3.0

Volumes Of Interest

New:

Mask by VOI number for generating template images.
Contours can now also be outlined in the coronal or sagittal orientations.
Undo function for contour VOIs.
Cropping the image volume to VOI bounding boxes.
Single-button creation of an atlas from an image and the outlined contours.

Changed:

Revised user interface to enlarge the available image space.
Calculation of TACs: up to 5 times faster.
Creation of VOI masks from a number of hottest pixels (external tool).

General Kinetic Modeling

New:

Functionality for metabolite correction which includes fitting of parent fractions with different models and the usage of population correction curves.
Ability to directly copy of the parameters from the overview panel to the clipboard. Can be pasted into Excel.
"Details" tab with new fit quality parameters (coefficient of determination, residuals root mean square) and criteria for model comparison (Schwartz criterion, Runs test).

Changed:

Menu reorganized and moved to the lower left corner.
When loading .km files from a database, patient/study information is overwritten by the contents in the database.

Fixes:

Bolus/Infusion Optimization had a problem when measured weights were used during fitting and simultaneous fitting of the plasma parameters was enabled.
The calculation of the sensitivity function used parameter changes which were too big (100% instead of 1%).
Blood delay fitting sometimes failed due to a problem in resampling with negative times.
Fix for calculation of standard deviations in curves created in the Edit Data tool.

Pixel-wise Modeling

New:

SRTM2 model for BPnd calculation with fixed k2'.
1-tissue compartment model with ridge regression (Zhou GRRSC).
Threshold parameter in the model pre-processing section to allow for background masking.
Possibility to outline VOIs and save them as TAC definitions for the PXMOD models.
Mask files can now be selected for masking the processing.

Changed:

The MA1 model was removed as a standalone model; it is included in the model which calculates the distribution volume by 3 different methods.
It is no longer possible to directly return a corrected input curve from PKIN to PXMOD.
The whole blood activity must be defined in the blood dialog, not any more in the pre-processing dialog (2-tissue compartments model, 1-tissue compartment models).
When a model processing is interrupted, the calculated pixels are displayed.

Fixed:

Some problems with batch mode were solved.
BPnd values calculated with SRTM method were not correct in early builds of version 2.95.
The configuration of value units was not properly applied when loading certain blood files.
Batches with only a single batch operation failed.

Image Fusion

New:

Automatic matching and normalization can be started for all loaded series, not only one-by-one.
Support for independent manual transformations of the frames of a dynamic study.
Toolbar with shortcut buttons for the most important tasks.

Changed:

Brain normalization II now includes a resampling grid randomization to avoid local minima. Consequently, the result may vary slightly between runs.
Adjusted order of the rotation buttons for a more intuitive behavior.
Transformations are always applied when data is loaded ("Auto" check box removed).

Fixed:

Due to an interpolation problem there had been a slight shift of the resliced images by 1/2 of the original pixel size.
The combination of set landmark and manual matching are now correctly saved/replayed in protocols.
SPECT template replaced (left and right were mirrored before).

3D Image Rendering

New:

Synchronization of two movies with the real time scale.
Ghost objects to configure rendering options beforehand.
Interpolation to isotropic pixel size during loading to reduce the flipping effects of VR objects.
Control over smoothing during segmentation.
Segmentation of a definable number of hottest pixels.
Annotation in the 3D scene by adding a Note

Changed:

VR controls are now also in the properties area, not in a separate dialog window.
More control over opacity function
Some detachable taskbars.

Data Formats

New:

Memory usage optimized for large DICOM objects
Added: Loader for NeuroStat files
Philips format: support for SUV-related information.
Philips format: Support for Syntegra CT data.

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