Troubleshooting and Support > Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why do I get an error when I try to open an image or study?

ClearCanvas Workstation currently supports many, but not all DICOM images. For example, the image may be compressed using an unsupported Transfer Syntax (like MPEG, for example). To see the exact problem, check the log file. If you are trying to open a study via Image Streaming, make sure the DICOM server you are trying to open studies from is indeed a ClearCanvas ImageServer.

Q. Why do I get an error when I try to view a series in MPR?

The MPR viewer only supports loading MPR on three or more images with the same orientation, frame of reference and slice spacing (within reasonable tolerances). Gantry tilted images may be used where the tilt is vertical. Horizontally tilted images are not currently supported.

Q. Why do the images say "FoR MISMATCH"?

The FoR MISMATCH warning indicates that the Fusion images you are currently viewing are generated from two different series with different frames of reference. This means that the image data is not guaranteed to be registered properly, and that you should take care to verify that the Fusion images are valid. We allow Fusion between images with different frames of reference because some older PET-CT configurations have separate PET and CT hardware, and the frames of reference recorded by the machines are not always identical, even though the machines have been manually calibrated.

Q. Why do I get an error when I try to import images?

Is the service running? Under normal circumstances, it should be running right when you start Windows and you shouldn't ever have to worry about it. But if you are unable to import images, you should check that it is running, and if it isn't, restart it.

Q. Why can't I send studies?

Is the Send Study button disabled? If so, the Workstation Shred Host Service is likely not running and will need to be restarted. Otherwise, check the Activity Monitor or the log file for an error message. Often, these error messages are descriptive enough to solve the problem.

If the study contains one or more very large files (on the order of hundreds of megabytes), you may run out of memory while sending the study. This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future version of the Workstation. As a temporary workaround, these very large files will need to be transferred manually by physical storage media, such as a USB flash drive. Alternatively, if possible, you can try to configure the modality such that it generates single frame instances rather than a single large multiframe image (which is usually the case with such large files).

Q. Why can't I retrieve studies?

Is the Retrieve Study button disabled? If so, the Workstation Shred Host Service is likely not running and will need to be restarted. Otherwise, if you've tried to retrieve a study but nothing happens, there are some common things that you should look out for:

1.	The most common source of problems is incorrect configuration. Please see the section on configuring external servers, or the section on configuring the local DICOM server, for a detailed explanation.

2.	Do you have some kind of firewall software running? If so, you will need to open up the port that the local Workstation's DICOM server uses. By default, ClearCanvas Workstation is configured to receive images on port 104.

We've discovered that even if you don't have firewall software running, you may still need to add ClearCanvas.Desktop.Executable.exe and ClearCanvas.Server.ShredHostService.exe to your list of "Exceptions" in your firewall software. If you run Windows Firewall, open it up, go to the Exceptions tab and add those two executables using the Add Program... button.

Do you have any other DICOM software installed on your machine? If so, you may have a port conflict. Since port 104 is the default listening port for DICOM SCPs, it is possible that another process is using that port and the Workstation's DICOM Server will fail to start. You will need to stop the other process and restart the Workstation Shred Host Service.

Q. What's the password to start ClearCanvas Workstation?

The Personal Edition uses your Windows password to secure the Workstation from unauthorized users when the computer is left unattended. Please double check the spelling of the password, and that Caps Lock is off. If you are still having trouble, please contact your system administrator for assistance.