MedView
A versatile NIfTI (.nii, .nii.gz) and DICOM (.dcm) medical image viewer for Visual Studio Code and Cursor IDE.
🏥 Purpose
MedView allows visualising medical images directly into your code editor. Whether you're a researcher, developer, or medical professional working with medical images, this extension provides a comprehensive medical image viewer supporting both NIfTI and DICOM formats with all the essential tools for medical image visualization.
✨ Features
🔍 Multi-Planar Reconstruction
View your medical images in all three anatomical planes:
| Axial View |
Sagittal View |
Frontal View |
 |
 |
 |
🎛️ Advanced Image Controls
- Brightness & Contrast: Fine-tune image intensity for optimal visualization
- Image Transformations: Rotate (clockwise/counterclockwise) and flip (horizontal/vertical)
- Navigation:
- Keyboard shortcuts (arrow keys, Page Up/Down, Home/End)
- Mouse wheel scrolling
- Interactive slice slider
- Real-time Updates: All changes are applied instantly with smooth GPU-accelerated rendering
🖼️ Professional Medical Imaging Features
- Multi-Format Support: Handles both NIfTI (.nii, .nii.gz) and DICOM (.dcm) formats
- Native Resolution Display: Maintains original image quality without interpolation
- Physical Aspect Ratio: Respects voxel spacing for accurate anatomical proportions
- Global Intensity Normalization: Consistent brightness across all slices
- Compressed File Support: Handles both .nii and .nii.gz formats seamlessly
- Memory Efficient: Smart caching and lazy loading for large datasets
- DICOM Single-Slice Viewing: Optimized interface for DICOM files with simplified controls
📦 Installation
Visual Studio Code
- Open VS Code
- Go to Extensions (
Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X)
- Search for "MedView"
- Click "Install"
Cursor IDE
- Open Cursor
- Go to Extensions (
Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X)
- Search for "MedView"
- Click "Install"
Manual Installation
- Download the
.vsix file from the releases
- Open VS Code/Cursor
- Run
Extensions: Install from VSIX... from the Command Palette
- Select the downloaded file
🚀 Getting Started
After Installation
MedView automatically registers as the default viewer for NIfTI and DICOM files. If you need to manually set it:
- Right-click on any
.nii, .nii.gz, or .dcm file
- Select "Open With..."
- Choose "MedView Medical Image Viewer"
- Check "Configure default editor" to make it permanent
First Use
Simply open any NIfTI or DICOM file in your workspace - MedView will automatically launch and begin loading your medical image data.
🎮 Usage Guide
Navigation Controls
- Arrow Keys: Navigate between slices
- Mouse Wheel: Scroll through slices when hovering over the image
- Slice Slider: Click and drag for precise slice selection
- Page Up/Down: Jump 10 slices at a time
- Home/End: Jump to first/last slice
View Controls
- Anatomical Planes (NIfTI only): Click the icon buttons to switch between Axial, Sagittal, and Coronal views
- Brightness/Contrast: Use the sliders in the right panel to adjust image intensity
- Reset Intensity: Restore default brightness and contrast settings
- DICOM Files: Display in single-slice axial view with simplified controls
- Rotate CW/CCW: Rotate the image 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise
- Flip H/V: Flip the image horizontally or vertically
- Reset Transformations: Restore original image orientation
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key |
Action |
↑ ↓ ← → |
Navigate slices |
Page Up / Page Down |
Jump 10 slices |
Home / End |
First/Last slice |
Mouse Wheel |
Scroll through slices |
🔧 Technical Specifications
- Supported Formats: NIfTI (.nii, .nii.gz) and DICOM (.dcm)
- Data Types: All standard NIfTI data types (8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, float, double) and DICOM pixel data
- Compression: Automatic decompression of .gz files
- Performance: GPU-accelerated rendering with optimized memory usage
- Compatibility: VS Code 1.60+ and Cursor IDE
🐛 Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Q: Medical image files don't open with MedView automatically
A: Right-click the file → "Open With..." → "MedView Medical Image Viewer" → Check "Configure default editor"
Q: Images appear distorted or stretched
A: MedView automatically applies correct aspect ratios based on voxel spacing. If issues persist, check your file's header information.
Q: Large files load slowly
A: MedView uses progressive loading. Header information loads first, followed by image data in the background.
Q: DICOM files show limited controls
A: DICOM files are single-slice images, so multi-planar reconstruction controls are hidden. Use brightness/contrast and transformation controls for optimal viewing.
🤝 Contributing
We welcome contributions! Please feel free to:
- Report bugs and feature requests
- Submit pull requests
- Share feedback and suggestions
📄 License
This extension is released under the GPLv3 License. See the LICENSE file for details.
🙏 Acknowledgments
- Built with the NIfTI JavaScript library and custom DICOM parser
- Optimized for medical imaging workflows
- Designed for researchers and medical professionals
Made with ❤️ for the medical imaging community
