MitkImageTypeConverter User Guide

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Usage
  • Required Arguments
  • Optional Arguments
• Supported Scalar Data Types
• Examples
  • Example 1: Convert an image to unsigned short
  • Example 2: Convert image to float
  • Example 3: Show help
• Notes

Overview

MitkImageTypeConverter is a command-line utility provided by the Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK) for converting the scalar pixel type of an image to a specified type. It supports common scalar data types such as int, float, uchar, etc., and works on both 2D and 3D images.

The tool is useful for standardizing image data types before further processing or analysis, especially when specific types are required by downstream tools.

Usage

MitkImageTypeConverter -i <input_file> -o <output_file> -t <type>

Required Arguments

Argument	Short	Type	Description
--input	-i	File	Path to the input image file.
--output	-o	File	Path to the output image file.
--type	-t	String	Scalar data type to convert to. See supported types below.

Optional Arguments

Argument	Short	Description
--help	-h	Show help text only

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Supported Scalar Data Types

The following scalar types are supported via the --type argument:

• int – signed integer
• uint – unsigned integer
• short – signed short integer
• ushort – unsigned short integer
• char – signed char
• uchar – unsigned char
• float – single-precision float
• double – double-precision float
• none – no conversion is performed

If none is specified, the input is not converted and no output is produced.

If an unsupported type is given, the tool defaults to double.

Examples

Example 1: Convert an image to unsigned short

MitkImageTypeConverter -i input.nrrd -o output.nrrd -t ushort

Result:
The input image is converted to type unsigned short and saved as output.nrrd.

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Example 2: Convert image to float

MitkImageTypeConverter -i input.mhd -o output.mhd -t float

Result:
The scalar type of the image is converted to float.

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Example 3: Show help

MitkImageTypeConverter --help

Result:
Displays usage and options information.

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Notes

• Only 2D and 3D images are supported.
• If an unsupported dimension is provided, the tool prints a warning and exits without producing output.
• All MITK-supported file formats can be used as input/output (e.g., .nrrd, .nii, .mhd, .mha).
• The internal conversion uses ITK image casting; ensure the data remains valid after casting, especially for truncated types (e.g., char, uchar).