The Atlas is the platform's library of imaging cases. This page explains how its pieces fit together — series, cases and collections — and how to browse, view, upload and organise material. For step-by-step import and collection authoring instructions, use the guided walkthroughs.
New to the terminology? The glossary defines every term used here. The full walkthrough covers the rest of the platform.
A stack of (dicom) images, usually from one modality, body part and time point. These form the basic building blocks of cases.
One patient, built from one or more series.
A curated set of cases used for review, reports, questions or vivas.
Series can belong to several cases, and a case can belong to several collections. Each case–collection link stores the questions, display options and viewer state for that specific collection, so the same case can be used in different ways without being duplicated. See the DICOM guide for what those files contain and which metadata the Atlas reads.
A series is a stack of images that should share a modality, body part and acquisition time — for example a CT of the head or an MRI of the knee. Each series can be attached to an arbitrary number of cases, and a case can contain any number of series.
Manage and create series from the Series area of the Atlas menu. Open a series to inspect its metadata, reorder its images and see which cases use it.
A case is the basic unit of the Atlas. It combines one or more series with a single patient's clinical information:
Cases carry visibility and quality controls: open access controls whether
any registered user can browse the case, verified marks it as checked, and
archive hides it without deleting it. Authors and editors are recorded on
the case.
Browse from Cases, create a case from Create Case, or keep a work-in-progress in My Drafts.
A case collection groups cases for a purpose. It is different from an exam collection, which groups whole exam packets into a course or sitting. Four case-collection types are available:
| Type | Used for | What the candidate does |
|---|---|---|
| Review | Teaching sessions and curated sets for browsing. | Works through the cases; no answers are stored. Self-review can be enabled. |
| Report | Audit, teaching or assessment where a written report is expected. | Writes a report per case. Feedback can be automatic or marker-reviewed. |
| Question | Quiz and question-based learning. | Answers a set of questions attached to each case. |
| Viva | Oral examination practice and presentation. | Cases are presented by an examiner with synchronised candidate and examiner windows. |
access_mode (Private, Candidates only, Any registered user or Public), archive, prerequisites and pre/post surveys.Start from Create collection, give it a name and choose its type, then add cases from the overview and drag them into order. Use Edit for dates, access, visibility and marking, and Preview as candidate to check exactly what a learner will see. The guided walkthrough covers this flow step by step.
Learners do not use this management list: their assigned collections appear under View my courses and Collections to view / take.
A viva collection is usually a single station presented by an examiner. The local viva viewer opens a linked viewer in a second window so you can load complete cases, individual series, resources and display sets without leaving the control page. Use Open Viewer Local first, then the Load buttons in the cases panel; the current-case panel tracks the active case and any injected question block. Enable Edit Mode adds quick links for preparing the station.
Cases open in the built-in DICOM viewer with windowing, scrolling, measurement and annotation tools. Where a case or collection offers the advanced (OHIF) viewer, use Launch advanced viewer. Display sets let you save a particular image selection and its annotations for teaching or presentation.
For teaching, treat each highlighted region as its own finding: draw a rectangle or freehand region, give it a caption, and link the relevant findings, structures and conditions. Measurements captured with the annotation are shown beneath the finding/display set. Display sets can be ordered with a sort order and load into a locked teaching layer for learners, so their own annotations stay separate.
For collaborative teaching, shared viewing sessions let several people follow the same images in real time, with optional shared control and chat.
The easiest way to add cases is the uploader tool, which exports, anonymises and uploads cases from Insignia Insight (it may need setting up once). If that is not possible you can upload DICOM files directly on the web upload page.
Requirements: a full Insight installation (not WebPACS).
Uploaded series appear under Uploads. Select the series you want (use Select all series for the whole set), then add them to an existing case or create a new one. Imported series are then available to build cases.
Content can also move between servers using offline bundles and content packs: export a collection or case, then import the bundle on the target server. API tokens for the uploader are managed from your profile.
Depending on how DICOM files were exported, images within a stack may appear out of order — obvious as “jumping” when scrolling. In most cases this is fixed by reordering on series metadata (usually slice location).
If images still look wrong, check that the series really is a single acquisition before reordering again.
The platform supports reusable feedback forms and surveys, configured by administrators and attached to exams and collections as pre-take or post-take surveys. A survey can be optional (the candidate may skip it) or mandatory (blocking progress until completed).
Survey questions can be free text, multiple choice, rating scales, numbers or dates. Results are available in the survey analytics dashboard and can be exported as CSV. Standalone surveys can also be shared by link for general feedback.