Window leveling: Clinical applications

Anyone using IMPAX clinically will find the window leveling tools particularly useful, especially Window Level, Window Level Preset, and Invert. In fact, the Window Level tool is often activated by default when study images are first opened for display. Using the Window Level tool, you can change the contrast between light and dark areas of an image or the overall brightness of an image by moving the mouse. This is useful when viewing almost any study. For example, the Window Level tool can help:

• Compensate for overly bright room lighting

• Increase the image contrast when screening mammography studies, so as to more easily spot anomalies

• Make it easier to see an inserted tube in patients whose fluid retention creates dispersion on X-ray images

With the Window Level tool you can change two values with mouse movements: Window, or contrast, which is set by moving the mouse side to side, and Level, or brightness, which is set by moving the mouse up and down.

Your system may also be configured to apply preset Window Level values automatically. These presets are based on the contrast and brightness values typically required for images from a particular modality. You can also explicitly select a preset value to apply.

The Invert tool simply reverses the dark and light areas of an image. This can be useful for:

• Seeing calcifications more clearly on mammography studies

• Reversing the polarity of certain studies

• Viewing the images of patients with adipose tissue