Skip to content

Best Practices: File Metadata Importer and File Classifier

Introduction

When new DICOM data are loaded into Flywheel, it is highly beneficial to automate the proper classification of the data. To efficiently accomplish this task, Flywheel provides a set of gears: File Metadata Importer and File Classifier.

Workflow

First, File Metadata Importer runs on the DICOM file to extract and store DICOM header information as Flywheel metadata attached to the file's Custom Information, under file.info.header.dicom.

Second, File Classifier utilizes the file.info.header.dicom metadata to classify the file according to a classification profile. By default, Flywheel provides a set of classification profiles for the following modalities:

  • Computed Tomography (CT)
  • Magnetic Resonance (MR)
  • Positron Emission Tomography (PT)
  • Mammography (MG)

For more details on what modalities and classifications the Flywheel classification schema includes by default, refer to FW Modality Classification.

Additionally, a custom classification profile can be created and provided as input to the File Classifier gear to classify other types of files. Detailed information on these default profiles and how to create your own can be found at File Classifier: Custom Classification Profiles.

Next Steps

File Metadata Importer and File Classifier can be configured to run automatically within your data ingest workflow. See Gear Rules for more information and detailed instructions.

See Data-Classification for additional information on modality and classification.