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[ctsim.git] / doc / ctsim-gui.tex

\chapter{The Graphical User Interface}\label{ctsim}\index{ctsim}%
\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{\ctsimheadtitle}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
\ctsimfooter%


\section{Overview}
\ctsim\ is the graphical shell for the CTSim project. It utilizes
using the \urlref{wxWindows}{http://www.wxwindows.org} library for
cross-platform compatibility. The graphical shell is compatible
with Microsoft Windows, \urlref{GTK}{http://www.gtk.org}, and
\urlref{Motif}{http://www.openmotif.org} graphical environments.

\usage \texttt{ctsim [files to open...]}

You can invoke \ctsim\ by itself on the command line, or include
on the command-line any number of files that you want \ctsim\ to
automatically open. \ctsim\ can open projection files, image
files, phantom files, and plot files.


\section{File Types Support}

Phantom and plot files are stored as ASCII text. In contrast,
image and projection files are stored in binary format.
\ctsim\ incorporates logic so that binary files are cross-platform
compatible between both little and big endian architectures.

\subsection{Phantom}
Besides loading phantom files from the disk, the Herman and
Shepp-Logan phantoms are built-in to \ctsim. Phantom files can be
read and stored on the disk. However, a text editor is required to
create and edit these files.

\subsection{Image}
Image files are 2-dimensional files that store 4-byte floating
point values. Images files can be either real or complex valued.
Typically, all images are real except for images that have been
processed by Fourier transforms. As you might expect,
complex-valued images are twice the size of real-valued images
since both a real and imaginary component need to be store.

Images files can also store any number of text labels. \ctsim\ uses
these labels for storing history information regarding
the creation and modifications of images.

When complex-valued images are viewed on the screen, only the real
component is displayed.

\subsection{Projection}
Projection files are created from Phantom files during the
projection process. Numerous options are available for the
creation of the these files. The files are stored in a binary
format with cross-platform compatibility on little and big endian
architectures.

\subsection{Plot}
Plot files are created by \ctsim\ during analysis of image files.
They can be read and stored on the disk. They are stored as ASCII
files for easy cross-platform support.

\section{Global Menu Commands}
These commands are present on the menus for all of the windows of
\ctsim.

\subsection{Preferences...}
This command displays a dialog box that allows users to control
the behavior of \ctsim. These options are saved across \ctsim sessions.
Under Microsoft Windows environments, they are stored in the registry.
On UNIX and Linux environments, they are stored in the users home
directory with the filename of \texttt{.ctsim}.

\begin{description}\itemsep=0pt
\item[Advanced options] By default, this is turned off in new installations.
These advanced options are required for normal simulations. When \texttt{Advanced
Options} is set, \ctsim\ will display more options during scanning of programs and
the reconstruction of projections.

\item[Ask before deleting new documents] By default, this is turned on in
new installations. With this option set, \ctsim\ will ask before closing
documents that have been modified or never saved on disk. By turning off
this option, \ctsim\ will never ask if you want to save a file -- you'll
be responsible for saving any files that you create.

\end{description}

\subsection{Open...}
This command opens a file section dialog box. Of special consideration
is the \texttt{File Type} combo box on the bottom of the dialog. You need
to select that to the type of file that you wish to open.

\subsection{Save}
This command saves the contents of the active window. If the window hasn't
been named, a dialog box will open asking for the file name to use.

\subsection{Save As...}
Allows the saving of the contents of a window to any filename.

\subsection{Help}
This command displays the online help.

\subsection{About}
This command shows the version number of \ctsim.


\section{Phantom Menus}

\subsection{Properties}
Displays the properties of a phantom which includes:

\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item Overall dimensions of a phantom
\item A list of all component phantom elements
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Rasterize Dialog}
This creates an image file from a phantom. Technically, it
converts the phantom from a vector (infinite resolution) object
into a 2-dimension array of floating-point pixels. The parameters
to set are:

\begin{twocollist}
\twocolitemruled{\textbf{Parameter}}{\textbf{Options}}
\twocolitem{\texttt{X size}}{Number of columns in image file}
\twocolitem{\texttt{Y size}}{Number of rows in image file}
\twocolitem{\texttt{Samples per pixel}}{Numbers of samples taken
per pixel in both the x and y directions. For example, if the
\texttt{Samples per pixel} is set to \texttt{3}, then for every
pixel in the image file 9 samples (3 x 3) are averaged.}
\end{twocollist}

\subsection{Projection Dialog}
This creates a projection file from a phantom. The options
available when collecting projections are:

\begin{twocollist}
\twocolitem{\texttt{Geometry}}{
  \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
    \item Parallel
    \item Equiangular
    \item Equilinear
  \end{itemize}}
\twocolitem{\texttt{Number of detectors}}{Sets the number of
detectors in the detector array.}

\twocolitem{\texttt{Number of views}}{Sets the number of views
collected}

\twocolitem{\texttt{Samples per detector}}{Sets the number of
samples collected for each detector}

\twocolitem{\texttt{View Ratio}}{Sets the field of view as a ratio
of the diameter of the phantom.  For normal scanning, use a value of
\texttt{1.0}.}

\twocolitem{\texttt{Scan Ratio}}{Sets the length of scanning as a
ratio of the view diameter. For normal scanning, use a value of \texttt{1.0}.}

\twocolitem{\texttt{Focal length ratio}}{Sets the distance of the
radiation source and detectors from the center of the object as a
ratio of the radius of the object.

For parallel geometries, use a value of \texttt{1.0}. For other
geometries, this should be at least \texttt{2.0} to avoid artifacts.}
\end{twocollist}

\subsection{Advanced Options}
\begin{twocollist}
\twocolitem{\textbf{Rotation Angle}}{Sets the rotation amount as a
multiple of pi. For parallel geometries use a rotation angle of \texttt{1}
and for equilinear and equiangular geometries use a rotation angle
of \texttt{2}. Using any other rotation angle will lead to artifacts.}
\end{twocollist}



\section{Image Menus}
\subsection{File - Properties}
Properties of image files include
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  \item Whether the image is real or complex valued
  \item Numeric statistics
  \item Image file labels
\end{itemize}

\subsection{File - Export}
This command allows for exporting image files to a standard
graphics file format. This is helpful when you want to take an
image and import it into another application. The current
\helprefn{intensity scale}{intensityscale} is used when exporting
the file. The support file formats are:

\begin{description}\itemsep=0pt
\item[PNG]Portable Network Graphics format. This uses 8-bits or
256 shades of gray.

\item[PNG-16]This is a 16-bit version of PNG which allows for
65536 shades of gray.
\item[PGM]Portable Graymap format. This is a common format used on
UNIX systems.
\item[PGM]ASCII version of PGM.
\end{description}


\subsection{View}\label{intensityscale}
These options are for change the intensity scale for viewing the image.
They do not change the image data.
\subsubsection{Set}
This command brings up a dialog box that allows you to set the lower
and upper intensities to display.

\subsubsection{Auto}
This command brings up a dialog box that allows \ctsim\ to automatically
make an intensity scale. The options that \ctsim\ needs to make this
automatic scale are:

\begin{description}\itemsep=0pt
\item[Center] This sets the center of the intensity scale. Currently,
\ctsim\ allows you to use either the mean, mode, or median of the image
as the center of the intensity scale.

\item[Width] This sets the half-width of the intensity scale. The width
is specified as a ratio of the standard deviation.
\end{description}

As an example, if \texttt{median} is selected as the center and
\texttt{0.5} is selected as the width, the the minimum intensity will
be \texttt{median - 0.5 x standard deviation} and the maximum will be
\texttt{median + 0.5 x standard deviation}.

\subsubsection{Full}
This resets the intensity scale to the full scale of the image.

\subsection{Image}
These commands create a new image based upon the current image,
and for some commands, also a comparison image.

\subsubsection{Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide}
These are simple arithmetic operations. \ctsim\ will display a dialog
box showing all of the currently opened image files that are the
same size of the active image. After selecting a compatible image,
\ctsim\ will perform the arithmetic operation on the two images and
make a new result image.

\subsubsection{Image Size}
This command will generate a new window with the current image scaled to
any size. Currently, \texttt{bilinear} interpolation provides the best
image quality.

\subsubsection{3-D Conversion}
Generates a 3-dimensional view of the current phantom. This view can be
rotated in three dimensions. The left and right arrow control the z-axis
rotation, the up and down arrows control the x-axis rotation. The y-axis
rotation is controlled by the \texttt{T} and \texttt{Y} keys. Other options
include:

\begin{itemize}
\item Surface plot
\item Smooth shading
\item Lighting on or off
\item Color scale
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Filter}
These commands filter and modify the image.

\subsubsection{Arithmetic}
These are simple arithmetic functions that should be self explanatory.

\subsubsection{Frequency Based}
This commands allow the Fourier and inverse Fourier transformations of
images. By default, the transformations will automatically convert
images from Fourier to natural order as expected. For example, \texttt{2-D FFT}
will transform the points into natural order after the Fourier transform.
Similarly the inverse, \texttt{2-D IFFT}, will reorder the points from
natural order to Fourier order before applying the inverse Fourier transformation.

As you would expect, images that undergo frequency filtering will be complex-valued
images. Normally, only the real component is shown by \ctsim. However, \ctsim\ does
have options for converting a complex-valued image into a real-valued image via
the \texttt{Magnitude} and \texttt{Phase} filtering commands.

\subsection{Analyze}
These commands are used for analyzing an image.

\subsubsection{Plotting}
The commands plot rows and columns of images. There are also commands
that perform FFT and IFFT transformations prior to plotting.

\subsubsection{Image Comparison}
This command performs statistical comparisons between two images. An option
also exists for generating a difference image from the two input images.

There are also commands for plotting rows and columns from two images on
a single plot. This is quite helpful when comparing a phantom to a reconstruction.

\section{Projection Menus}

\subsection{File - Properties}
The displayed properties include:

\begin{itemize}
\item Number of detectors in the projections
\item Number of views
\item The variables used when generating the projections from the phantom
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Process - Convert Polar Dialog}\label{convertpolardialog}
The parameters are \texttt{xsize}, \texttt{ysize}, and \texttt{interpolation}.
The \texttt{xsize} and \texttt{ysize} parameters set the size of the
resulting image file. The \texttt{interpolation} parameter selects the
interpolation method. Currently, the \texttt{bilinear} option provides
the highest quality interpolation.

\subsection{Process - Convert FFT Polar Dialog}
The parameters for this option are the same as \helprefn{Convert
Polar Dialog}{convertpolardialog}. For this command, though, the
projections are Fourier transformed prior to conversion to polar
image.

\subsection{Reconstruct - Filtered Backprojection Dialog}
This dialog sets the parameters for reconstructing an image from projections
using the Filtered Backprojection technique.


\begin{twocollist}
\twocolitemruled{\textbf{Parameter}}{\textbf{Options}}
\twocolitem{\textbf{Filter}}{Selects which filter to apply to each
projection. To properly reconstruct an image, this filter should
be multiplied by the absolute value of distance from zero
frequency.
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item abs\_bandlimit
\item abs\_cosine
\item abs\_hamming
\end{itemize}
} \twocolitem{\textbf{Hamming parameter}}{Sets the alpha level for
Hamming   window. At setting of 0.54, this equals the Hanning
window.}

\twocolitem{\textbf{Filter Method}}{Selects the filtering method.
For large numbers of detectors, \texttt{rfftw} is optimal. For
smaller numbers of detectors, \texttt{convolution} might be a bit
faster.
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item convolution
\item fourier
\item fourier\_table
\item fftw
\item rfftw
\end{itemize}
}

\twocolitem{\textbf{Interpolation}}{Interpolation technique.
\texttt{cubic} is optimal when many projections are taken and the
data is smooth. Otherwise, \texttt{linear} gives better results.
Linear is also much faster than cubic interpolation.

\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item nearest
\item linear
\item cubic
\end{itemize}
}
\end{twocollist}

\subsection{Advanced Options}

These options are only visible if \emph{Advanced Options} has been
selected in the \texttt{File/Preferences} dialog. These parameters
default to optimal settings and don't need to be adjusted except
by expert users.

\begin{twocollist}
\twocolitem{\textbf{Backprojection}}{Selects the backprojection
technique. A setting of \texttt{idiff} is optimal.
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item trig
\item table
\item diff
\item idiff
\end{itemize}
}

\twocolitem{\textbf{Filter Generation}}{Selects the filter
generation. With convolution, \texttt{direct} is the proper method
to select. With any of the frequency methods,
\texttt{inverse-fourier} is the best method.
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\item direct
\item inverse-fourier
\end{itemize}
}

\twocolitem{\textbf{Zeropad}}{Zeropad factor when using
frequency-based filtering. A setting of \texttt{1} is optimal.}

\end{twocollist}

\section{Plot Menus}
\subsection{File - Properties}
The displayed properties include the number of curves in the plot
and the number of points per curve. Additionally, the EZPlot
commands used to format the plot are displayed.

\subsection{View Menu}
These commands set the scaling for the y-axis. They are analogous
to the options used for setting the intensity scale for images.

\subsubsection{Set}
This command sets the upper and lower limits for the y-axis.

\subsubsection{Auto}
This command automatically sets the upper and lower limits for the
y-axis. Please refer to the \texttt{View - Auto} documentation for
image files for the details.

\subsubsection{Full}
The command resets the upper and lower limits of the y-axis to the
minimum and maximum values of the curves.