OHIF is the Open Health Imaging Foundation viewer: a browser app that talks DICOMweb, renders with Cornerstone, and is meant to be customized. This page is that overview. It is not a 7-plus viewers list. It is not a Slicer click-path. It is not a gated PYCAD demo.
If you meant an unranked tools list (OsiriX, Horos, RadiAnt, Slicer, Weasis, Orthanc) → DICOM viewer software. If you meant open a file and paint a mask → Slicer + ITK-SNAP. If you meant the archive / workbench → PACS and DICOM. If you meant a leftover custom-viewer landing → /dicom-viewer/ (page 8115; different job, not rewritten).
PYCAD builds custom web DICOM viewers and imaging models. Some of that work is OHIF-shaped. That is not an OHIF SKU, and this page does not rank PYCAD.
What you are actually installing
OHIF is a React application. The pixels go through Cornerstone (Cornerstone3D in current Viewer v3). The study list and the retrieve talk DICOMweb to a server you already have. There is no OHIF cloud in the default repo.
| Piece | Job | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Viewer (this repo) | Study list, hanging, window/level, MPR, measurements, extensions | A PACS. A VNA. A cleared diagnostic workstation out of the box |
| Cornerstone3D | Decode and render the image; tools (wwwl, length, probe, stack scroll) | The hospital archive |
| DICOMweb | QIDO-RS (find), WADO-RS (get), STOW-RS (put) | A USB stick of .dcm files. C-STORE is the DIMSE twin; browsers speak HTTP |
| A server | Orthanc, dcm4chee, a cloud medical-imaging API, anything that speaks DICOMweb | Bundled. You point the viewer config at one |
Repo: github.com/OHIF/Viewers. Docs: docs.ohif.org. Public demo: viewer.ohif.org. Site: ohif.org.
How a first instance comes up
The docs path is: Node LTS, clone the Viewer, install dependencies, run the dev server, and a config whose data source is a DICOMweb root. Orthanc with the DICOMweb plugin is the usual laptop store. Without a store, you have a shell.
What you configure, not what you invent:
- wadoRoot / qidoRoot. Where studies live. Wrong slash, no studies. CORS will waste a day if the store is on another origin.
- Modes. A mode is a hanging plus a set of panels (basic viewer, a measurement mode, a segmentation mode if you added the extension). It is not a new product name.
- Extensions. OHIF is a plugin host. A custom panel (a model score, a hanging for one specialty) is an extension, not a rewrite of the whole repo if you can avoid it.
- Auth. The default local demo is not a hospital login. OIDC or a gateway in front is your job.
A local folder of DICOM that is not behind DICOMweb is a different path (some teams use a static WADO or a small Orthanc). Do not tell a browser to open a study as a local file URL.
What it is good at, and the line it does not cross
- Good: a web viewer you can brand, hang, and extend without shipping a thick client. Teaching, research, a portal pane, a vendor demo, a specialty worklist in the browser.
- Not automatic primary diagnosis. A default OHIF build is not cleared because it is OHIF. Clearance is a product, a claim, and a quality system — FDA medical device approval. OsiriX MD is the named cleared row on the tools list; OHIF is not on that list as a trophy.
- Not Slicer. Slicer is a research desktop (segments, registration, Python). OHIF is a browser hanging a DICOM study. That how-to stays there.
- Not the leftover /dicom-viewer/ page. 8115 is a gated demo landing for a custom viewer. Different URL, different job. Do not 301 this blog into it.
Customization vs this overview
A site page named “OHIF viewer customization” is a commercial landing. This article is the open viewer. If you need a custom hanging, a specialty panel, or a viewer that is not a stock OHIF skin, that is engineering work — not a row on a listicle and not a SKU invented here.
Start: docs plus a local Orthanc plus the public demo so you know what working looks like. Then change the viewer config, not the marketing copy.