Top 10 Free iPhone and iPad DICOM/ PACS viewers & Radiology apps for Doctors/ Radiologists
Note: This article is an Evergreen article. It will receive continues update about the listed applications. You can save it and return to it as a updated resource.
Viewing and managing Medical Imaging on mobile devices and tablets is a necessity for Radiologists/ Doctors. However most of the apps for iOS are paid and as we promoting the free and open source usable software/ apps we created this is for doctors who are looking for something free and usable especially for AppStore restricted regions. In here we will list the free application only.
If you are looking for Mac OSX DICOM Viewers, We have covered a comprehensive list of Free DICOM/ PACS Viewers for Mac OSX, You may review it it here:
1- MedFilm
MedFilm is free app for iOS supporting iPhone/ iPad as well, Its key features is querying and viewing the DICOM images through DICOM network protocols. It supports many protocols as C-Find SCU, C-GET SCU, WADO. Which makes it the ideal solution to work in different setup.
- First release : August 2014
- Last update : June 2016
Key features:
- Works very well on iPhone and iPad.
- Supports multiple protocols
- Light weight.
- Simple UI.
- Query and Import utilities.
- Full screen view mode.
- Easy zooming and panning
2- DICOM Viewer App
DICOM Viewer App, is a DICOM costumed viewer for medical imaging, supporting iPhone and iPad. It offers more client side tools to view, manipulate the medical images. Query tool is very simple to use as it is wrapped in easy usable user-interface. DICOM Viewer App supports both single import and patch import for the medical images, it also works very well while in the background as it retrieves the requested data.
- First release : May 2017
- Last update : October 2018
Key features :
- Works on iPhone and iPad.
- Series Import.
- DICOM Export.
- DICOM Tag viewer
- DICOM viewer with many image manipulation tools.
3- Med View
Med View is a DICOM viewer for iOS but provided many ways and methods to make their app usable for wide range of radiologists, doctors in different settings. Med view focuses on providing full support for FTP servers as well as it provides complete integration with iTune to query, retrieve and view DICOM images. Med View supports 2D/ 3D display, Series display, contrast and brightness tools for viewer. Though the viewer is very simple and it does not support full screen but it's very usable and easy to use.
- First release : April 2015
- Last update : November 2017
Key features
- Supports FTP servers
- Supports iTune share folder
- Simple easy to use Viewer.
4- iDO Viewer
iDO Viewer is a DICOM Viewer focusing on delivering multiple displaying tools and options to its users. It was released first in the early 2012 as it's last update was 2016 but it's works fine with the new iOS versions. It delivers very usable features as patients records engagement, zooming, panning and measurements with easy touch ( it was quite off with my test thu : iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 12.1).
- First release : January 2012
- Last update : March 2016
Key features :
- Fast image access for remote servers
- Image viewing tools.
- Measurement tools
- Supports : many modalities (CR, ECG/EKG, DR, CT, MR, US, XA, NM ,etc)
- PDF export.
5- Keiron
Keiron is another DICOM viewer built for iPad and iPhone, It has very simple usable user interface, with custom layout for iPad devices. It connects easily with PACS, performing queries and retrieving operations with set of advanced search/ query options. Keiron utilizing the local storage option for the client's device as it use it to display, process and re-construct the medical images.
Released 2015
Key features:
- PACS compatible
- Easy user interface
- iPad custom layout
- Medical Images comparison
- Sharing tool over email or dropbox.
6- Aycan mobile
Aycan Mobile is very old DICOM viewer first launch was 2011, as it last update was at the end of 2017. It supports iOS 10 and later. Unlike other DICOM viewer apps for iOS Aycan Mobile is focusing on security and improving the workflow for the its users. As a viewer it has split view for medical imaging. It
- First release : March 2011
- Last update : December 2017
Key features:
- Push notification support
- Fast
- Security : using password and 256 bit AES encryption.
- Powerful viewer with usable and easy access tools.
7- iPaxera
iPaxera is a DICOM viewer built to be compatible with professional and enterprise DICOM workstations. However, it's very usable as a standalone application on iPhone, iPad and iPod devices. It utilizes the transferring the DICOM files to the devices using iTune with USB which allow file synchronization easily and working offline without the need to access remote servers. iPaxera is focusing on reporting writing and sharing via email.
- First release : 2012
- Last update : September 2018
Key features:
- Supports DICOM Cine for displaying Cardiac Cath and Echo.
- Query options and filtering tools
- Zoom , Pan , rotation and distance measurement through two-fingers drag and pinch
8- Mobile MIM
Mobile MM is one of the oldest application for DICOM on Apple AppStore, first release was at July 2008, and surprisingly it's still updated and maintained, It requires register unlike most of the apps, It has very usable features beyond empowering the viewer with tools, as sharing via WIFI or Bluetooth it's called Breeze image sharing. It has very easy and usable user interface, simple settings panel, and simple workflow as well. Mobile MIM has easy accessible user guide, FAQs and support information.
Key features:
- Simple user interface
- Supports : SPECT, PET, CT, MRI, X-ray and Ultrasound
- Multiple data sources
- View images while loading
- Sharing via Bluetooth and WIFI
- Demo data
- Secure data transfer
- Built for iPhone and iPad
9- VueMe
VueMe is developed by the same developer as Mobile MIM and it's as descried by it's developer as "intended to be used by patients for the non-diagnostic viewing of medical images". However it has the most basic tools as a viewer with patient access to their data.
10- DICOM viewer : eMma
Though I like that application very much, not just because it utilize the famous Game engine Unity to produce this app, But because it eases the workflow and provide better control on query/ retrieve process. I have to say I am very disappointed that amazing DICOM application was not released in English. It supports multiple protocols as well but also provides full MacOSX desktop integration through iTune for file transfer, sharing and storage.
Key features:
- MacOSX integrations
- iTune Support
- Supports : MR, CT, SPECT, PET, X-ray, ultrasound etc.
- Display : coronal (Coronal) and sagittal (Sagittal) images reconstructed from cross section (Axial) for CT and MR images. (3-dimensional reconstruction)
- 2 Screens Image comparison
- 2 Screen Synchronisation
Disadvantages :
- English is not supported.
- Multi-frame images and 4D images are not supported
- Image sizes limitations
- Not usable in the current state
Note :The company that produced DICOM Viewer : Emma, has several DICOM tools, but their website is in Japanese you may visit it here. Hopefully, we will see that app supporting other languages in the next release as fixing several usability issues.
Conclusion.
In this post we have excluded the paid applications as well as the application those costumed to work on certain environments or dedicated to certain services and such. However, there are very useful and powerful paid application also many good DICOM viewers are available in different languages and different countries as well.
Related :
- Top 10 FREE DICOM Viewers for Doctors : Windows, Linux and Mac OSX
- Orthanc : a developer friendly, free and Open source DICOM Server for medical imaging.
- Horos Free/ Open source DICOM Viewer for Mac OSX for Radiologists.
