Exporting Results

After analyzing a dataset in pylinac, you may want to export the data to a file for further analysis or for record-keeping. Pylinac has built-in methods for most analyses to export to PDF, save figures, and dump data to string or JSON.

Exporting to PDF

For most analyses, the publish_pdf method is available. This method will create a PDF report of the analysis. The PDF will contain a summary of the analysis, the figure(s) generated, and any other relevant information.

from pylinac import WinstonLutz

wl = WinstonLutz.from_zip("myzip.zip")
wl.analyze()
wl.publish_pdf("my_report.pdf")  # will save the report to a PDF file

You can even open this upon saving by setting the open_file parameter to True.

...
wl.publish_pdf(
    "my_report.pdf", open_file=True
)  # will save the report to a PDF file and open it

Exporting Figures

If you want to save the figures generated during an analysis, you can use the save_analyzed_image method. This method will save the figure to a file.

from pylinac import Starshot

star = Starshot.from_zip("myzip.zip")
star.analyze()
star.save_analyzed_image("my_starshot.png")  # will save the figure to a PNG file

Exporting to JSON

If you want to save the data to a JSON file, you can use the results_data(to_json=True) method. This method will return a JSON string of the data. This string can be saved to a file or otherwise passed around.

from pylinac import Starshot

star = Starshot.from_zip("myzip.zip")
star.analyze()
json_str = star.results_data(
    to_json=True
)  # dumps to a string that can be loaded by any JSON reader
with open("my_starshot.json", "w") as f:
    f.write(json_str)

Exporting to QuAAC

Note

QuAAC is a new standard we designed to allow for interoperable data exchange between vendors and clinics. It is in the early stages of development and is not yet widely adopted.

To save results from an analysis to the QuAAC format, use the to_quaac() method. This will save the data to a file in the QuAAC format.

from pylinac import Starshot
from quaac import User, Equipment

star = Starshot.from_zip("myzip.zip")
star.analyze()
performer = User(name="Michael Bluth", email="mbluth@sitwell.com")
equipment = Equipment(
    name="Halcyon 1",
    type="Linac",
    serial_number="1234",
    manufacturer="Varian",
    model="Halcyon",
)
star.to_quaac(
    "star_quaac.yaml", format="yaml", performer=performer, primary_equipment=equipment
)

It is important to know that QuAAC can store binary data like plotted images and PDFs that pylinac might produce. This is not done by default due to the many options of publishing the PDF and plotting the images. However, this can be done by separately saving the images and PDFs and then adding them to the QuAAC file as attachments.

from pylinac import Starshot
from quaac import User, Equipment, Attachment

star = Starshot.from_zip("myzip.zip")
star.analyze()
# save the images and PDFs
star.save_analyzed_image("starshot.png")
star.publish_pdf("starshot_report.pdf")
# now dump to QuAAC
performer = User(name="Michael Bluth", email="mbluth@sitwell.com")
equipment = Equipment(
    name="Halcyon 1",
    type="Linac",
    serial_number="1234",
    manufacturer="Varian",
    model="Halcyon",
)
png_attachment = Attachment.from_file(path="starshot.png", name="Starshot Image")
pdf_attachment = Attachment.from_file(
    path="starshot_report.pdf", name="Starshot Report"
)
original_image = Attachment.from_file(path="myzip.zip", name="Raw Image")
star.to_quaac(
    "star_quaac.yaml",
    format="yaml",
    performer=performer,
    primary_equipment=equipment,
    attachments=[png_attachment, pdf_attachment, original_image],
)

See more here for writing QuAAC files.