Anonymizing Patient Information

You can anonymize patient information to exclude this information from displaying in an image and from being included in an export file. By default, text overlay anonymization is turned off, and Synapse displays patient and study information on all images.

When you enable text overlay anonymization, Synapse hides all patient and study information on all the images for each series in a study, including information contained in text overlays. Use the Anonymous Items user settings to specify which text overlay information should be anonymized in a study. See Configuring Overlay Settings.

The anonymize function also hides some values in the Studylist, such as the Accession number.

  1. Click Pause Pause if playing cine.
  2. Right-click the image and select Tools.
  3. Select one of the following options from the submenu.

    4. If you want to...

    Do this...

    Hide patient information in an image.
    • Select Anonymize.

    Hide part or all of an image.
    • Select Study Anonymization Mask.
    • Click and drag the rectangle to the required size and vertical location.
    • This option applies to all series and images within the study.
    • This option is available for both current and prior studies.

    Create a black rectangle to cover a portion of an image.

    • Select Image Anonymization Mask to activate the arrow cursor.
    • Click and drag the arrow cursor to create a black rectangle in the image. This option only applies to the image it was drawn on. If it is a multiframe image, then it applies to all frames within the multiframe image.
    • Optional:
      • To resize a mask, click the center line marker and drag the mask.
      • To move a mask to another location, click the mask and drag it to the new location.
      • To remove a mask, right-click the rectangle and select Delete or press the Delete key.
    • You can also access this option by right-clicking the image and selecting Annotations > Mask.
    • This option is not available for MPR, Fusion, or 2D slab images.

    Display all image masks in the Viewer

    • Select Show Image Anonymization Masks.
    • This setting is turned off by default.
    • If you select Image Anonymization Mask to draw a new mask and Show Image Anonymization Masks is off, Synapse automatically turns Show Image Anonymization Masks on so you can see existing masks before adding another mask.

    Save the positions for the anonymization masks you created.

    • Select Save Anonymization Mask.
    • Save Anonymization Mask also occurs automatically when you leave a study with recent changes to existing study or image anonymization masks.
    • If you deleted a previously saved image anonymization mask, Synapse removes the mask with the next Save Anonymization Mask operation.
    • Note: Synapse automatically saves updated Anonymization Masks when you perform a DICOM Transfer. See Using DICOM Transfer for Studies or Series.

Results

Based on your selection, Synapse applies the selected Anonymize or Mask option to the image as noted in the table.

  • All designated patient information is anonymized for the duration of the session.
  • Synapse applies masks to all frames in a multiframe series. For non multiframe series, Synapse only applies the mask to a single frame or image.

Additional Option

To hide or display text overlays using a keyboard shortcut, press SHIFT + T.

Related Topics

Text Overlays Overview

Exporting and Printing Images

Configuring Custom Shortcut Keys