The DICOM Toolbox, Anonymisation Engine Guide

A comprehensive guide to the PHI/PID scrubbing and Visual Redaction features of the Anonymisation Engine, ensuring HIPAA/GDPR compliance.

Pixels

Visual Pixel Redaction

Destroy burned-in PHI/PID directly on the image matrix using a non-reversible pixel overwrite tool. Includes a full suite of drawing tools: Brush, Rectangle, Ellipse, Freehand, and Text Stamping.

How to use it When an older ultrasound burns the Patient Name directly into the image, select the Rectangle tool to draw a black box over the text, permanently destroying the pixel data.
Video

Multi-Frame Redaction Broadcast

Redact a 100-frame ultrasound cine-loop in seconds. Draw your redaction zones on a single frame and instantly broadcast those pixels across the entire sequence.

How to use it Frame-by-frame redaction is impossible. Draw a box over the PHI/PID on frame 1, and click "Apply to All Frames" to automatically burn the same redaction mark into every frame of the video.
Identity

Demographic Replacement

Replace critical patient identifiers—like Patient Name and Patient ID—with configurable, randomized, or standardized dummy values (e.g., ANON^PATIENT, ANON001) to protect identity.

How to use it Before sending a scan to a research portal, enforce a strict naming convention by automatically overwriting the real name with a randomized subject ID to guarantee HIPAA/GDPR compliance.
Routing

UID Regeneration Engine

Automatically generates completely new, ISO-compliant UIDs for the Study, Series, and SOP levels. Ensures the newly anonymized file doesn't collide with the clinical original on your PACS.

How to use it Toggle "Generate New Study Instance UID" before saving to create a divergent copy of the study that can be safely loaded alongside the original on the same VNA without overlapping.
Metadata

Quick-Select Tag Groups

Effortlessly strip massive swathes of metadata with single-click group toggles. Instantly clear out Primary Patient ID, Clinical & Demographic, or Institutional & Personnel tags in one sweep.

How to use it Don't waste time hunting for tags. Check the "Institutional & Personnel Metadata Tags" box to instantly strip out all referring physicians, operators, and hospital names.
Advanced

Granular & Private Tag Targeting

Need precision? Use the detailed tag list to cherry-pick exactly which tags to keep or drop. Also features aggressive algorithms to hunt down and strip proprietary private tags that frequently hide PHI/PID.

How to use it If you suspect a scanner is hiding identifiable equipment data in odd-numbered private tags, toggle "Remove private patient-name tags" to forcibly scrub non-standard elements.