open source imaging informatics
open source imaging informatics
These release notes include all updates that were made since the release of XNAT 1.7.6, the last public release. This includes changes made for XNAT 1.7.7, which was an internal-only release where most of the code changes do not have corresponding JIRA tickets. These release notes offer some additional notes on new features and bugfixes based on those updates.
As of XNAT 1.8, we no longer support running XNAT on any version of Internet Explorer, which has been deprecated by Microsoft and will stop receiving security updates in 2021. Microsoft Edge and all other modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, et al) are supported.
XNAT 1.8 ships with a fully rebuilt means of automating tasks in relation to filterable events in XNAT. This is a powerful new feature, and one that becomes more powerful when combined with the Container Service.
See: Using the XNAT Event Service
XNAT 1.8 is now built on Java 8 and requires PostgreSQL 9.6 – with PostgreSQL 10 or higher recommended. In the UI, the jQuery library and related libraries have been updated to version 3.5.1.
See: Prerequisites for Installing XNAT
Among other architectural improvements, XNAT 1.8 offers improved support for Multi-Node XNAT configurations, which help distribute traffic and server load on very large systems such as CNDA. Additional bugfixes addressed issues with LDAP logins and database upgrading from older versions of XNAT.
XNAT supports two separate image viewing plugins, and XNAT administrators can choose to install one or both depending on their needs.
XNAT 1.8 introduces improvements to the Custom Resource Uploader workflow, by adding the additional concept of allowing project owners to send incoming resource files to a "Triage" space where they can be proofed before they are added to the project. See: Using the Resource File Quarantine
XNAT 1.8 includes a number of bugfixes for the catalog service, as well as handling assessor resources – particularly those created via the REST API. Fixes include:
Enabling image scan datatypes in XNAT has long been fraught with bad or strange behavior, and admins were often cautioned not to do it. XNAT 1.8 now offers full support for enabling scan listings. This improvement has a cascading positive benefit when used with the Container Service and Batch Launch Plugin, allowing users to launch containers (such as dcm2niix) in bulk on scan data across their project or across search listings.
See: Using the Batch Launch Plugin with the Container Service
The ROI Collection datatype plugin was a required prerequisite for running the XNAT-OHIF Viewer Plugin. This datatype has now been moved into the core XNAT data model, which obviates the need to re-install it via the datatype plugin. If installed, the ROI Collection datatype plugin can be safely removed.
XNAT 1.8 includes a series of minor bugfixes related to datatype management, including unintended behavior when removing elementSecurity entries. Fixes include:
XNAT 1.8 resurrects and empowers the mostly defunct dicom-project.rules method of specifying custom DICOM fields to query to determine project routing during the session-building and archiving process. With this method now positioned at the top of the logical stack, XNAT 1.8 makes it possible for a site administrator to set these rules on their site via the API or the Site Admin UI.
See:
XNAT 1.8 rebuilt the snapshot generation service, and made it available as a core service rather than relying on the Autorun pipeline. This new service functions on the fly, which adds incremental performance benefits to the scan archiving process. It also makes it easy for users to generate their own snapshots, including single-slice views and montage views.
See: Generating Scan Snapshots and Montages in XNAT
XNAT 1.8 now uses version 6.3 of the DicomEdit6 library, providing new capabilities, including the ability to mask regions of pixel data that have burned-in PHI.
See: DicomEdit 6.3 Language Reference
Among other improvements related to session archiving, XNAT 1.8 resolves a bug that prevented Mammogram data from being archived properly in some cases.
For a long time, it was possible in XNAT for a site administrator to not grant themselves access to all project data. However, as site administrators, they always have the ability to toggle that all-data-access switch back on at their leisure. This created a phantom role of the "data-blind site admin" whose existence depended entirely on the chivalry of the person in that role. This was not a sustainable practice, and also created logistical nightmares when coding around "admin" permissions as related to the hundreds and hundreds of API endpoints in XNAT.
In XNAT 1.8 and moving forward, a site administrator will always be granted access to all project data.
XNAT 1.8 resolved a series of minor usability issues related to the Admin UI and Project Admin UI, including the ability to enable and disable Series Import Filters.
See:
A number of security issues were addressed in XNAT 1.8.0. Affected areas include project resources, alias tokens, and cross-site scripting.
XNAT 1.8 introduces the new "Activity" tab, which appears on the bottom of the screen to track asynchronous processes in the UI. Examples of newly asynchronous processes include the Compressed Image Uploader, the Review and Archive feature within the Prearchive, and Container launches.
XNAT 1.8 addressed a series of minor UI behaviors and rendering issues, including the following:
XNAT 1.8 addressed a series of minor backend behaviors, including the following:
There are several issues and improvements on tap. These are a selection of higher priority known issues.
| Issue | Description |
|---|---|
| XNAT-5453 | Sensitive information can be passed from DICOM fields to session XML when not importing via the Prearchive |
| XNAT-6445 | Severe errors recorded during startup in Java 8-based XNATs when using Tomcat build 7.0.68. Updating to Tomcat 7.0.106 resolves the issue. |
| XNAT-6481 | New scan "modality" field will be empty for most data imported into versions of XNAT older than 1.7.5 |
| XNAT-6511 | Updated compressed uploader tracks and stores original file name, study instance UID, and possibly patient ID |
| XNAT-6581 | New XNAT scan snapshot service does not support compressed DICOM |
| XNAT-6710 | Event Service does not support XNAT ML datatypes, or other "project assets" |
XNAT is an open source project produced by NRG at the Washington University School of Medicine | NRG Home
Contributions to the XNAT Documentation site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. 