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What This Guide Helps With
Troubleshooting acquisition workstation, 3D workflow, DICOM send, PACS, archive, or network transfer problems using safe external checks.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
Ensure Patient Safety First
Confirm whether the ARTIS Q system is actively being used for a patient procedure.
If the issue occurs during an active case, do not restart the workstation, network equipment, or imaging system unless directed by the clinical team and site procedure.
Expected outcome: Patient care is not interrupted by troubleshooting activity.
If imaging, fluoro, or image review is required for an active procedure, clinical staff should continue using the safest available workflow or move to downtime procedure.
Confirm the Reported Failure
Ask the operator what failed and when it failed.
Determine whether the issue involves:
- Acquisition workstation frozen or slow
- 3D reconstruction not launching
- 3D spin acquired but not processing
- Images not transferring to PACS
- DICOM send failure
- Modality worklist not populating
- Images stuck in local queue
- Network destination unavailable
- Archive or export failure
Expected outcome: The failure is clearly separated into workstation, 3D workflow, DICOM, or network transfer behavior.
Check for Active Procedure or Unsaved Image Data
Before any restart, confirm whether there are unsaved images, incomplete acquisitions, active 3D reconstructions, or pending transfers.
Ask the technologist or physician whether images have been reviewed, saved, or exported.
Expected outcome: Patient images and procedural data are protected before troubleshooting continues.
If there is any concern about losing clinical data, stop and escalate to Siemens support or the site imaging/PACS team.
Verify Workstation Power and Display Status
Check that the acquisition workstation, review monitors, keyboard, mouse, and related display components are powered on.
Confirm there are no blank displays, loose monitor cables, disconnected keyboard/mouse cables, or powered-off peripherals.
Expected outcome: The workstation interface is available and not simply affected by a display or peripheral issue.
If reconnecting or powering an external peripheral restores control, verify normal operation and stop.
Check for Obvious Workstation Lockup
Observe whether the mouse moves, keyboard responds, system clock updates, and applications can be selected.
Do not force a reboot during a patient case unless approved through the clinical escalation process.
Expected outcome: The issue is identified as either a full workstation lockup or an application-specific problem.
Confirm the Imaging System Is Otherwise Functional
Ask staff whether fluoro, acquisition, table control, C-arm movement, and image display are functioning normally.
If acquisition itself is failing, this may not be a network-only problem.
Expected outcome: The failure is narrowed to image processing or transfer instead of the full angiography system.
Check the 3D Workflow Step Where the Failure Occurs
If the issue involves 3D imaging, identify the exact failure point:
- 3D protocol cannot be selected
- Rotational acquisition does not complete
- Images acquire but reconstruction does not start
- Reconstruction starts but fails
- 3D image cannot be displayed
- 3D image cannot be sent to PACS or workstation
Expected outcome: The failing step is documented clearly enough for service or applications support.
Verify Patient and Study Selection
Confirm the correct patient, accession number, study, and procedure are selected.
A wrong or incomplete patient context can cause DICOM routing, archive, or worklist issues.
Expected outcome: The image data is associated with the correct patient and exam.
If correcting the study selection allows transfer, verify receipt in PACS and stop.
Check Modality Worklist Availability
If worklist is not populating, confirm whether other imaging systems in the department can access worklist.
Ask whether registration, RIS, Epic, or scheduling systems are having downtime.
Expected outcome: The issue is separated from a hospital-wide worklist or interface outage.
If multiple systems are affected, escalate to imaging IT or PACS support rather than treating the ARTIS Q as failed.
Review DICOM Destination Selection
Confirm the correct PACS, archive, 3D workstation, or external destination is selected.
Look for operator selection errors, wrong destination, old destination, or an inactive send target.
Expected outcome: Images are being sent to the intended DICOM destination.
If selecting the correct destination restores transfer, confirm image receipt and stop.
Check the Local Send Queue
Review whether images are pending, failed, retrying, or stuck in the local transfer queue.
Note the number of studies affected and whether only one study or all studies are failing.
Expected outcome: The problem is identified as a queue issue, single-study issue, or general transfer failure.
Confirm Network Cable and Jack Condition
Inspect accessible network cables at the workstation, wall jack, equipment cabinet, or network drop if safely reachable.
Do not move or unplug cables inside restricted system cabinets unless authorized and trained.
Expected outcome: No obvious disconnected, damaged, loose, or mislabeled network cable is found.
If a clearly loose external network cable is reseated and transfer resumes, confirm operation and document the finding.
Check for Network or PACS Outage
Contact imaging IT, PACS, or the hospital help desk to ask whether there is an active network, PACS, DICOM, interface, or storage outage.
Expected outcome: Site-wide issues are ruled out before suspecting ARTIS Q hardware or software failure.
Compare With Another Imaging Modality
Ask whether CT, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, or another angiography room can send images to the same destination.
Expected outcome: A broader DICOM or PACS issue is identified if multiple modalities are affected.
Check for Firewall, IP, or Destination Changes
Ask imaging IT whether any recent changes were made to:
- Network switch ports
- VLANs
- IP address assignments
- PACS AE title
- DICOM port
- Firewall rules
- Server replacement
- Worklist configuration
Expected outcome: Recent infrastructure changes are considered before replacing or servicing the angiography workstation.
Attempt a Controlled Resend
If patient care is not active and the study is safely stored locally, attempt a resend to the correct DICOM destination per site workflow.
Expected outcome: The study either transfers successfully or fails again with the same behavior.
If resend works, verify receipt in PACS and stop.
Check Whether the Failure Is Study-Specific
Determine whether only one patient study fails or whether all new studies fail.
A single failed study may involve patient demographics, accession mismatch, corrupted series, or unsupported image object.
Expected outcome: Troubleshooting is focused on either one study or the entire transfer function.
Verify External Export Media Only If Applicable
If staff report USB, CD/DVD, or external export failure, confirm the media is approved, available, and not full or damaged.
Do not connect unauthorized USB devices to the ARTIS Q system.
Expected outcome: External media problems are ruled out without creating cybersecurity risk.
Perform Only Approved Restarts When Safe
If no patient is active, no unsaved data is at risk, and staff approve downtime, perform only the standard user-level restart or application restart allowed by site policy.
Do not perform service-level resets, configuration changes, or operating system changes without Siemens or qualified support direction.
Expected outcome: Temporary workstation or application faults may clear without deeper intervention.
If the workstation, 3D workflow, or DICOM transfer returns to normal, verify image acquisition, 3D processing, and transfer before returning to use.
Document Exact Error Messages
Record the exact workstation message, DICOM error, failed destination, time of failure, patient/study impact, and whether images remained locally available.
Expected outcome: Escalation has enough detail for Siemens, PACS, or imaging IT to act efficiently.
If the Problem Persists
If the ARTIS Q Series continues to have acquisition workstation, 3D workflow, DICOM, or network transfer failures after external checks, common user workflow, network, destination, and queue issues have been ruled out.
The device should be:
- Removed from clinical use if image acquisition, review, storage, or transfer reliability is affected
- Labeled Out of Service if safe procedural workflow cannot be maintained
- Sent for Siemens service evaluation, imaging IT review, PACS support, or bench-level workstation/network assessment as appropriate
Knowing when to stop is proper troubleshooting. Do not attempt service-level software repair, DICOM reconfiguration, operating system repair, or internal workstation troubleshooting without proper authorization and support.
Clinical Use Tip
Do not troubleshoot on an active patient. Move patient care to a backup device first when imaging, fluoro, image review, storage, or transfer reliability cannot be maintained.
Do not restart or troubleshoot the acquisition workstation during an active angiography procedure unless the clinical team confirms it is safe. Image availability, live review, and procedure documentation are patient safety functions.
Therapy continuity and procedural imaging availability should be protected before troubleshooting continues.
Work Order Documentation (CCR Method)
CCR = Complaint, Cause, Resolution
Complaint
What was reported by the clinical staff.
Example:
"Clinical staff reported that the Siemens ARTIS Q Series acquired images but DICOM transfer to PACS failed and studies remained in the local send queue."
Cause
What was observed during troubleshooting.
Example:
"Verified correct patient selection and DICOM destination, found no loose external network cabling, and confirmed imaging IT was investigating a PACS destination outage affecting multiple modalities."
Resolution
What action was taken.
Example:
"ARTIS Q remained clinically limited until PACS service was restored; transfer was reattempted successfully and image receipt in PACS was confirmed with radiology staff."
Helpful Details to Include (If Known)
- Procedure active or system idle when reported
- Exact workstation, 3D, DICOM, or transfer message
- Whether fluoro and acquisition still worked
- Whether 3D reconstruction failed before or after acquisition
- Patient/study/accession affected
- DICOM destination selected
- Local queue status
- Worklist status
- PACS or network outage confirmed
- Network cable and jack checked
- Other modalities affected or not affected
- Alarm behavior
- Accessories swapped
- Power behavior
- Environmental factors
- Indicator lights
- Restart performed or avoided
- Final image transfer status
- Final device status
Final Thought
For an ARTIS Q Series angiography system, acquisition workstation and DICOM issues must be handled carefully because image review, storage, and transfer affect clinical workflow and patient records. Start with patient safety, confirm data is protected, rule out external network and destination problems, and escalate when the fault points to workstation software, 3D processing, DICOM configuration, or internal system failure. Clear CCR documentation helps separate Clinical Engineering, PACS, IT, and vendor responsibilities.
That is successful troubleshooting.