# Slicer 4.8: Summary, Highlights and Changelog

**URL:** https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-4-8-summary-highlights-and-changelog/1292
**Category:** Release Notes
**Created:** [October 26, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-4-8-summary-highlights-and-changelog/1292 "2017-10-26T21:05:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![jcfr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jcfr/32/17825_2.png) [@jcfr](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jcfr)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-4-8-summary-highlights-and-changelog/1292/1 "2017-10-26T21:05:00Z")

</div>

# Table of Contents

- [Summary](#heading--summary)
- [Highlights](#heading--highlights)
- [Changelog](#heading--changelog)
  - [Core](#heading--core)
  - [IO](#heading--io)
  - [API updates and Python Scripting](#heading--api-updates-and-python-scripting)
  - [Build System, Continuous Integration, Software Process, Release Process](#heading--build-system-continuous-integration-software-process-release-process)
  - [Modules](#heading--modules)
    - [Segmentations](#heading--segmentations)
    - [Volumes](#heading--volumes)
    - [SceneViews](#heading--sceneviews)
    - [DICOM](#heading--dicom)
    - [CropVolume](#heading--cropvolume)
    - [Endoscope](#heading--endoscope)
    - [OpenIGTLink](#heading--openigtlink)
    - [Tables](#heading--tables)
    - [SurfaceToolbox](#heading--surfacetoolbox)
    - [Transform](#heading--transform)
    - [SampleData](#heading--sampledata)
    - [Data](#heading--data)
    - [VolumeRendering](#heading--volumerendering)
    - [Terminology (New module)](#heading--terminology-new-module)
    - [ScreenCapture](#heading--screencapture)

  - [Extensions](#heading--extensions)
    - [New](#heading--new)
    - [Improved](#heading--improved)

# Summary

The community of 3D Slicer developers is proud to announce that version 4.8 is [now available for download](http://download.slicer.org/). This version introduces close to 1,000 feature enhancements and bug fixes for better performance and stability. It includes more than 15 new-and-improved core modules and dozens of updated extensions.

The development of 3D Slicer—including its numerous modules, extensions, datasets, pull requests, patches, issues reports, suggestions—is made possible by users, developers, contributors and commercial partners around the world. This development is funded by various grants and agencies. For more details, please see the 3D Slicer [Acknowledgments](https://www.slicer.org/wiki/Documentation/%7B%7Bdocumentation/version%7D%7D/Acknowledgments) page.

[slicer.org](https://www.slicer.org) is the portal to the application, training materials, and the development community.

The [Slicer Training](https://www.slicer.org/wiki/Documentation/4.8/Training) page provides a series of tutorials and data sets for training in the use of Slicer.

_Please note that Slicer continues to be a research package and is not intended for clinical use. Testing of functionality is an ongoing activity with high priority, however, some features of Slicer are not fully tested._

# Highlights

Slicer 4.8 highlights are:

- Simpler [Data](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/4.8/Modules/Data) module integrating the Subject Hierarchy.

- [Segmentations](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/4.8/Modules/Segmentations) module improvements including addition of new effects like Grow from seeds, Fill between slices, Surface cut, Mask Volume, Watershed, Fast marching and Flood Filling.

- Improvements to slice viewers including better [crosshair usability](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/4.8/SlicerApplication/MainApplicationGUI#Crosshair_Options) and support for slice model projection.

- Support for [Volumetric Meshes](https://blog.kitware.com/3d-slicer-adds-volumetric-mesh-support/).

- [DICOM](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/4.8/Modules/DICOM) support improvements including supports for definition of semantic meanings and faster imports.

- [Transforms](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/4.8/Modules/Transforms) module improvements including support for interactively updating transform in the 3D view and visualization of displacements of individual points.

- Support for [fast and interactive plotting](https://wiki.slicer.org/slicerWiki/index.php/Documentation/Nightly/Developers/Plots) using VTK Charts.

- More than 15 new and improved core modules.

- Dozens of new and improved extensions.

- Transition from mailing list to [Slicer discourse forum](https://discourse.slicer.org/).

# Changelog

## Core

- Features:

- Fixes / Performances:

## IO

- Features

- Performances:

- Fixes:

## API updates and Python Scripting

- Features:

- API updates and fixes:

## Build System, Continuous Integration, Software Process, Release Process

- Continuous Integration (CI) and Dashboards:

- Slicer Build System:

- Release process:

- Testing

- Extension build system:

## Modules

### Segmentations

- New effects:

- Segment statistics module (in Quantification category): Surfaces and volumes of segmented structures can be directly computed from Segmentation nodes (there is no need to export to model or labelmap nodes anymore).

- Segment content can be described using standard DICOM terminology. The information is used for creating quantitative reports using Segment Statistics module. Terminology information is included when Segmentation is loaded from DICOM segmentation object (see Quantitative Reporting extension).

- Support fractional labelmaps

- Additional improvements

- Performance and Fixes

- API / Developer

### Volumes

- Features:

### SceneViews

- Fix scene view thumbnail display.

### DICOM

- Features / Fixes / Performances:

- API

### CropVolume

Crop Volume module is an essential pre-processing tool for segmentation. Either for reducing size of large volumes (cropping/downsampling) or allowing better segmentation of structures that are comparable to the voxel size (cropping/upsampling)

- Features / Fixes:

- Performances:

### Endoscope

- Features

### OpenIGTLink

- Features

- Fixes

- Use cases

### Tables

- Table column properties: customize table properties (description, data type, unit, etc). It is used for customizing appearance and behavior and can be used by modules to associate any kind of metadata with a table column. Column properties are stored in a schema file (csv format). Details:[](https://www.researchgate.net/deref/https%3A%2F%2Fdiscourse.slicer.org%2Ft%2Ftable-columns-customization%2F436)[https://discourse.slicer.org/t/table-columns-customization/436](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/table-columns-customization/436)

### SurfaceToolbox

- Features:

### Transform

- Features

- Fixes

### SampleData

- Features:

### Data

The Data module acts as a central data-organizing point in Slicer.

- Integrate Subject Hierarchy module into Data module.

- Provide three views:

### VolumeRendering

- Features:

### Terminology (New module)

This new module supports definition of semantic meanings of structures represented in Slicer using terminologies from DICOM, SNOMED, and related standards. The new module includes widgets for easily finding meaningful terms and associating them with colors. This is built on concepts from the older Colors module and is designed to support DICOM SEG objects:

- Add Generic Anatomy Colors.

- Add option to load custom anatomical contexts for terminologies.

- Use new vtkCodedEntry class as base class for terminology containers.

- Add support for DICOMSegmentationPlugin from Quantitative Reporting extension by adding capability to load anatomical context from DICOM SEG descriptor.

### ScreenCapture

- Features:

- Fixes:

## Extensions

### New

- BoneTextureExtension: presents texture quantification algorithms that provide a statistical description of the local texture of a 2D, 3D or N-D image. The N-Dimensional texture maps are generated with a high performance algorithm andmulti-threaded implementation in the [Insight Toolkit (ITK)](https://itk.org/). These algorithms are used to characterize subchondral bone texture in [temporomandibular joint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporomandibular_joint) (TMJ) [osteoarthritis](http://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/types/osteoarthritis/) (OA). Bone is well characterized by these filters due to the rich textures present in the trabecular bone (low density bone). See [https://blog.kitware.com/fast-n-dimensional-texture-feature-maps/](https://blog.kitware.com/fast-n-dimensional-texture-feature-maps/)

- SegmentEditorExtraEffects: Experimental effects for Segment Editor in 3D Slicer.

- Sequence registration: This extension registers a sequence of volumes (3D+t a.k.a. 4D image data) to a selected volume. Processing results is a transform sequence (3D displacement field changing in time) and motion-compensated volume sequence. The transform sequence can be used for deforming point targets or structures. Applications include motion-compensation for volume comparison and analysis of organ motion.

- SlicerElastix: This extension makes available Elastix medical image registration toolkit ([http://elastix.isi.uu.nl/](http://elastix.isi.uu.nl/)) available in Slicer.

- SlicerITKUltrasound: This extension provides ultrasound image scan conversion of B-mode and next-generation ultrasound imaging modalities. Interfaces are built off the [ITKUltrasound](https://github.com/KitwareMedical/ITKUltrasound/) library. The modules available in this extension are useful for both 2D and 3D image generation for traditional B-mode imaging, but also next-generation ultrasound image modalities like ultrasound spectroscopy, acoustic radiation force imaging (ARFI), acoustic radiation force shear wave imaging (ARFI-SWEI), and others. See [https://blog.kitware.com/3d-slicer-resamples-ultrasound-images/](https://blog.kitware.com/3d-slicer-resamples-ultrasound-images/)

- Radiomics: This extension provides the interface to the pyradiomics library ([http://pyradiomics.readthedocs.io/en/latest/](http://pyradiomics.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)) that can be used to calculate over 1500 radiomics features from an image region defined by a segmentation.

### Improved

- SlicerRT

- VMTK

- DCMQI

- QuantitativeReporting

- SliceTracker

- SlicerDMRI