Our Open Source Philosophy

Why We Believe in Open Source Platforms

We believe in open source platforms because:

They offer greater customization opportunities

No two clients have exactly the same problem. Proprietary software involves providing a single solution that everyone uses; this approach rarely solves the client’s problem in an optimal way.

Businesses want to be in control of the key components they depend on

When you depend on proprietary software components, you can’t see or change the code, so you are taking some risks that are hard to quantify:

How well-tested are the components?
How robust is their implementation?
Under what conditions will they fail?
When they do fail, can you get a fix when you need it?
How secure are the components?
Can you get the vendor to add the features you need now and in the future?
Will the vendor continue to offer the components you need for the life of your business? What if they are acquired or have a change in leadership and / or priorities?

They foster global innovation and inclusion

They provide significant cost savings over proprietary technology.

To use them requires less investment and doesn’t involve license fees.

Small startups can innovate rapidly in spite of having few resources.

Access to the technology is not limited to wealthy regions.

Because the code is publicly available, it’s possible to collaborate with experts to move the technology forward, regardless of where they are located or if there are business relationships in place. This accelerates the pace of innovation.
We can avoid duplication of effort. Progress can happen more efficiently when everyone can build on one solution to a problem rather than having to create their own solution every time.

How We Use Open Source Platforms

We use open source platforms as a basis from which to deliver solutions to our clients’ medical imaging problems. Because we design software solutions as composable systems, we can choose the best component for each part of the solution.

We understand our platforms thoroughly, so we can rapidly bend them to our will, allowing us to efficiently solve the exact problem our client has. As the client’s business evolves over time, the solution can continue to evolve with it, staying in perfect sync. This level of solution-fit is nearly impossible with proprietary solutions.

OHIF and Cornerstone

OHIF and Cornerstone are two popular open source platforms for building web-based medical imaging applications and workflows.

Cornerstone refers to a modular collection of pure JavaScript libraries that can solve a variety of problems related to displaying and manipulating DICOM images in a web browser. Cornerstone would be a good option for situations where you already have a web application and just want to add some capabilities to it, like the ability to display a DICOM image.

OHIF offers a more complete out-of-the-box DICOM viewing solution, including a full user interface, making it a great choice when you want to build an entire web application or complex workflow from scratch.

In collaboration with colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiology, Radical actively develops and maintains both of these platforms. Radical has employed their expertise to help dozens of clients with their OHIF/Cornerstone projects.

"I engaged Radical Imaging to integrate and customize the OHIF viewer into the Flywheel research platform. My goal was to accelerate product development without derailing the core roadmap. Mission accomplished! I very much enjoyed working with Rob and the Radical Imaging team. They have deep understanding of the medical imaging space and repeatedly demonstrated professionalism, flexibility, and subject matter expertise."

Imad Nijim

COO

Learn More About Radical Imaging

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