This guide explains how to use the features on the Data Admin tab of the TCIA Radiology Portal. Curators use the Perform Quality Control feature to work with images that are not yet available to the public.

What's New in the Data Administration Tool (April 2022)

While using the Perform QC feature, you can now

• • assign or change the Data Released,
  • assign or change the site of the selected series from a list of existing sites, and
  • assign or change the Description URI of the selected series.

Perform Quality Control

TCIA role required to use this feature: NCIA.MANAGE_VISIBILITY_STATUS

For more information about roles, see Creating a New NBIA User.

When an image is uploaded to TCIA, it is not made public immediately. A curator takes it through a quality control process to ensure that no private patient data is available, the image is of good quality, and so forth. Using the Perform Quality Control tool as a curator, you can define search criteria to locate image series for you to evaluate. You can then evaluate the submission and assign the QC (quality control) status to an image or image series.

Search for the Series to QC

You can search by QC criteria, which include basic filter options, or use a dynamic search, which allows you to filter the data by DICOM tags using Boolean (and/or/omit) operators. 

Searching by QC Criteria

The criteria along the left side of the Perform Quality Control page are the basic filter options and these are always available. If these filters are not sufficient for you to find the image series you want to QC, you can use dynamic search criteria in combination with these basic filter options.

1. Click Data Admin > Perform Quality Control. 

2. From the Collection list, select the collection(s) in which the image series you would like to perform QC on reside(s). You can search on one or more collection (site) at a time.
   

3. Select filters to further narrow down the available image series to find the one you want to update. Ways to do this follow.

   • In the Criteria Search, filter by the QC status of the submitted object.
     
     
     

     QC Status	Description
     Not Visible	No images in the series are visible.
     Not Yet Reviewed	This status (selected by default) is automatically assigned to an image upon submission to the TCIA database.
     First Review to Seventh	A configurable user-defined stage in the workflow of an image series.
     To Be Deleted	Selected image series are to be deleted from the system.
     Visible	All images in the series are visible.
     Downloadable	All images in the series are downloadable. You can apply this status to a series to test the visibility of images in it. You can also use it to separate test cases from released cases.

• • Filter by other criteria.
    
    

    Criteria	Description
    Released	Limit your search to image series that have either been released or not. Click Ignore not to consider Released status at all in your search.
    Batch Number	In the Batch Number box, enter the batch number of the images/series you want to find.
    Confirmed as Complete	Select Yes to search for a set of images/series that has been confirmed as complete, No to search for a set of images/series that is ongoing, or No Change to not consider this field when searching.
    Subject ID	Separate multiple Subject IDs with commas and then select to perform the search.
    Most Recent Submission	In the From and To boxes, enter a submission date range by selecting a date in the calendar or by using the format mm/dd/yyyy. Click Apply "Most recent" date range to have the portal enter the date range of the most recent submission for you.

    TCIA searches for image series that match the criteria you define. The page refreshes to show those series. You can page through the results and choose how many entries to view per page.
    

Using the Dynamic Search

The dynamic search adds all of the available DICOM fields to your search query options. The dynamic search filters available to you are divided into those you can't select (because they are already part of the basic search filters) and those you can select to add to your search. The first subset of filters, with the blue headers, are selectable. The second subset of filters, with the green headers, are not selectable because they are already part of the basic search criteria along the left side of the window. You can combine dynamic search filters with basic search filters to create a more specific query. Each dynamic search filter can be made even more specific with your selection of a Boolean operator. These operators are And, Or, and Omit. These operators determine the logic of the combination of a dynamic filter with the basic filters.

1. Click Data Admin > Perform Quality Control. 
   Click the tab above the QC criteria.
   The Dynamic Search filter options appear.
   

2. Select dynamic search filters to add to the basic search filters. Some filters have List or Starts With options, and all filters require a Boolean operator choice. Read the following table for more information about the impact of these options.

   Option	What it means
   List	You can enter a list of specific values, separated by commas, of this field to search for. These values must be full entries, such as the full patient name. Note: For lists, the Boolean operator selection is between criteria and not within them.
   Starts With	You can enter a single value of this field that is included in an image series.
   And	Both operands (on either side of the operator) have to be true to produce a true result.
   Or	One or the other of its operands must be true to produce a true result.
   Omit	Do not include this query option in the list of search criteria. This is the default option for all of the dynamic search filters.

3. Click Okay.
   The dynamic filter options you selected appear above the basic search filters.

   Tip

   Note that the dynamic filter options have an X in the upper-right corner. Clicking this X removes the filter from your search criteria.

4. Click Apply in the new dynamic search filters you added to immediately add that value to the search.

   The results of your search refresh immediately. 

See also Understand QC Search Results.

Understand QC Search Results

After you search for the series to QC, you can do the following on the search results page.

• View the image series in thumbnails, in the OHIF viewer, or in cine mode.
• Assign a new QC status to one or more image series in your search results.
• Generate a QC Status History report.
• Download QC data.

View Image Series

Your search results appear in a table at the top of the page. You can view a selected image series in thumbnails, in the OHIF viewer, or in cine mode. 

Viewing Thumbnails

In the View column, click the magnifying glass icon to view thumbnails of each image in the series.

Viewing in the OHIF Viewer

In the View column, click the movie camera icon  to view the series in the Open Health Imaging Foundation (OHIF) Viewer. 

Click to display the images in the series sequentially.

Note that ultrasound images can only be viewed as thumbnails or in cine mode.

Viewing in Cine Mode

In the view column, click the eye icon  to view the series in cine mode, which provides an animated slideshow of the images in the series. The DICOM tags are unique for each image in the series. Cine mode is available when the series has more than one image and DICOM tags are available for each image.

As soon as one series plays in cine mode, the first image in the next series loads immediately so that you can review series in sequence more easily.

On the Perform Quality Control page, the series row that is currently playing in the slideshow is highlighted in yellow.

Below the image are the image controls. You can enter an image number in the first box to view a specific image, or you can view the images in a series by pressing the play button, which is the single right arrow. Use the other arrows as follows.

The box on the right shows the frames per second, which is the speed in which the images progress during the animation. The default is 15 frames per second and you can enter another number in this box to change the speed.

Assign a New QC Status

As a curator, you may need to assign a new QC status of one or more images or image series. You can assign the status of one or more selected images or image series individually or as a batch update. 

1. Search for the series to QC. For example, search on Not Yet Reviewed to find series without a QC status.
2. Select the series for which you want to assign the status by clicking the box to the left of its row in the search results. You can select more than one if you want to apply the same change to each series you select. To select all series for the selected collection(s), click the box in the top left.
   
3. In the New Status section, select the status options you want to apply to this series. Refer to the descriptions of the search filters. 
   
   
   
   
   • To assign a Date Released, in the Released section, click Yes and then select a date.
   • To assign a site to the selected series, select Update Site and then select a site from the list in the box.
     
   • To assign a Description URI to the selected series, select Update Desc. URI and then enter a new Description URI in the box.
     
4. Enter text into the change log box to track why you made the change.  This text will be part of the QC Status History Report that you can generate to track changes in visibility.
5. Click .

Change QC Status

You can also change the QC status of one or more images or image series. 

1. Search for the series to QC. 
2. View the series in cine mode.
3. In the Change QC Status section, select the status options you want to apply to this series. Refer to the descriptions of the search filters. You can also assign a Date Released, update the Site, and update the Description URI for the selected series.
   
   
   
   • To change the Date Released, in the Released section, click Yes and then select a date.
   • To change the site to the selected series, select Update Site and then select a site from the list in the box.
     
   • To assign the Description URI to the selected series, select Update Desc. URI and then enter a new Description URI in the box.
     
4. Enter text into the change log box to track why you made the change.  This text will be part of the QC Status History Report that you can generate to track changes in visibility.
5. To save the update and move to the next series, click . Or to skip this series without making an update and move to the next series, click .

Generate a QC Status History Report

To view the status change log, search for the series you want to appear in the report, click the box to the left of that/those series, and then click .

The QC Status History report appears, displaying all changes that have been made to the status of the series you selected.

Download QC Data

To download data, search for the series you want to download, click the box(es) to the left of that/those series, and then click .

A file appears in your browser that you can download to your computer.

Approve Deletions

TCIA role required to use this feature: NCIA.SUPER_CURATOR

For more information about roles, see Creating a New NBIA User.

This function is part of a two-tier deletion process. A super-curator can approve the deletion of image series that have been identified as "To be deleted" in the Perform Quality Control tool. After you approve an image series for deletion, you can either wait for the next scheduled system-wide deletion job or you can immediately remove image series that are approved for deletion.

To approve series deletions, follow these steps. Prior to approving deletions, you must assign the QC status of "To be deleted" to one or more series in the Perform Quality Control tool.

1. Click Admin > Approve Deletions.
   The Approve Deletions page appears.

2. Select filters to help you locate the series you have previously marked for deletion. Options for doing this follow.

   Criteria	Description
   Collection	You can only search on one collection (site) at a time.
   Released	Limit your search to image series that have either been released or not. Click Ignore not to consider Released status at all in your search.
   Batch Number	In the Batch Number box, enter the batch number of the images/series you want to find.
   Confirmed as Complete	Select Yes to search for a set of images/series that has been confirmed as complete, No to search for a set of images/series that is ongoing, or No Change to not consider this field when searching.
   Subject ID	Separate multiple Subject IDs with commas and then select  to perform the search.
   Most Recent Submission	In the From and To boxes, enter the most recent series submission date range by selecting a date in the calendar or by using the format mm/dd/yyyy.

   Using your filter selections, TCIA searches for image series that you have marked for deletion and refreshes the page to show those series. You may have to scroll both horizontally and vertically to view all series information and options.

   

   Expand the table to see more rows. To do so, scroll horizontally until you see the two diagonal lines in the lower-right corner. Click and drag that corner until the table expands to your desired height.

   

3. Select the box in the row of the series you want to delete. You may select more than one.
4. Optionally, add text to the change log to explain why you are deleting the series. This text appears in your QC Status History Report.

5. Click to approve the deletion. 

Image series you approve for deletion are still visible in the system and identified as "To Be Deleted". They are removed from the system at a system-configured time, such as at midnight (called an "offline deletion"), unless you perform a manual deletion (called an "online deletion").

Perform Online Deletions

TCIA role required to use this feature: NCIA.DELETE_ADMIN

For more information about roles, see Creating a New NBIA User.

This function is part of a two-tier deletion process. Using the Online Deletion feature, an administrator can delete image series that have been approved for deletion. This immediately removes images that are approved for deletion, rather than requiring the administrator to wait for the next scheduled system-wide deletion job.

Before you can use the Online Deletion feature, you must first approve image series for deletion.

To manually delete series, follow these steps:

1. Click Admin > Perform Online Deletion.
   A list of image series that have been approved for deletion appears.
   
   
   

2. Click to delete the series immediately.

   Deleting an individual series?

   All series listed in this page are deleted. You cannot select one series on the page for online deletion and not the others.

Edit Collection Descriptions

TCIA role required to use this feature: NCIA.MANAGE_COLLECTION_DESCRIPTION

For more information about roles, see Creating a New NBIA User.

Collection descriptions are uploaded along with image data. An administrator can edit these descriptions and change the license applied to the collection. Users view descriptions and license information when they hover over a collection name in the Simple Search area of the TCIA Radiology Portal.

To edit a collection description:

1. Click Admin > Edit Collection Description.
   The Edit Collection Descriptions page appears.
   
2. Select a collection name.
   The current collection description appears on the right in two editor options, text and HTML. 
3. Edit the collection description. 
   The top editing window allows you to use familiar point-and-click text formatting options, while the bottom editing window allows you to edit using HTML.
4. Change the license selection if needed.
5. Click .

Edit Collection License

TCIA role required to use this feature: NCIA.MANAGE_COLLECTION_DESCRIPTION

For more information about roles, see Creating a New NBIA User.

You can add or edit a collection license to your installation of the TCIA Radiology Portal. This license then becomes available to select while editing a collection description. Users view descriptions and license information when they hover over a collection name in the Simple Search area of the TCIA Radiology Portal.

To add a collection license:

1. Click Admin > Edit Collection License.
   The Edit Collection Descriptions page appears.
   
2. Click .
   
3. Enter the long name, short name, and license URL for the new license.
4. Select the appropriate button indicating that commercial use is or is not allowed for the new license.
5. Click .

To edit a collection license:

1. Click Admin > Edit Collection License.
   The Edit Collection Descriptions page appears.
   
2. Click the arrow next to the first license name on the left to open the list of licenses.
3. Select the license you want to edit. 
   The names, URL, and commercial use selection appear on the right.

4. Edit the information as needed and click .
   or
   Delete the license from this installation by clicking .

   As soon as you make any changes to the collection license, a message appears at the bottom of the window that says "There are unsaved changes!"

   

   Any changes you make are immediately visible in the window as you make them. Once you have clicked Save, you cannot click that button again until you make additional text changes in this window. The cursor changes to a circle with a line through it to show that the Save button is not available.