K-PACS was the free Windows “mini-PACS” that many small practices and teaching labs used to receive, store and review DICOM studies. It still runs where it was installed, but the last version is 1.6, the developer (now iQ IMAGE) no longer lists it on its free-tools page, the installer sits behind a forum login, and vendor staff have said it must not be used for diagnostic purposes. A new workstation in 2026 should start with something maintained.
The short answer: for everyday viewing and for receiving studies from a CBCT or panoramic unit, Sante DICOM Viewer Lite covers the K-PACS job on Windows and macOS and is free for professional use. For the network and conversion side, the open-source dcm4che tools are the maintained choice. Mango and ImageJ / Fiji are free for research and teaching. None of them is dental planning software; for implant planning and panoramic reconstruction you still need your scanner vendor’s program.
What K-PACS did, and what is left of it
K-PACS bundled four things in one program: a DICOM viewer, a local study database, the DICOM network services (store, query/retrieve, send) and patient CD/DVD burning. 1.6.0 is the last version discussed by the vendor; build numbers such as 2.5 or 5.x that circulate on download sites do not match any documented release.
Today the official trace of K-PACS is the vendor’s “K-PACS & ConQuest Forum”, which still has K-PACS boards for features, troubleshooting and announcements. iQ IMAGE’s free-tools page lists ConQuest, DICOMAnonymize and several DICOM testing utilities, but not K-PACS. On the forum, vendor staff wrote in 2013 that the download is only visible after logging in with forum credentials and that the software cannot be used for diagnostic purposes. The K-PACS page has the full history; below, each of its four jobs gets a maintained replacement.
Side by side
| Program | K-PACS job it replaces | Licence | Platforms | Status (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K-PACS 1.6 | Viewer, local archive, store and query/retrieve, CD burning | Free for evaluation and testing; not for diagnostic or commercial use | Windows (XP/7 era) | Legacy, no updates |
| Sante DICOM Viewer Lite | Viewer, local database, PACS client and listener | Free for everyone, including professional use | Windows 10/11 64-bit; macOS | Windows 5.4.0 (28 September 2026); macOS 2.2.1 (22 June 2026) |
| dcm4che toolkit | Store listener, query/retrieve, sending, conversion | Free, open source (MPL 1.1 / GPL 2 / LGPL 2.1) | Windows, Linux, macOS (Java 17 or newer) | 5.35.1 (24 August 2026) |
| Mango | Viewer with ROI statistics and surfaces | Free, non-commercial research only | Windows, macOS, Linux | 4.1 (March 2019), dormant |
| ImageJ / Fiji | Viewer and measurement for research | Free, open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | ImageJ 1.54t (May 2026); Fiji rolling releases |
Viewing studies and patient discs
This is where K-PACS is weakest today and where the replacement is easy. Sante DICOM Viewer Lite opens DICOM from folders, CDs and DVDs, keeps its own local database, and adds what K-PACS never had: orthogonal MPR, and on Windows isosurface, volume-rendered and MIP 3D views. Measurements include distance, angle, Cobb angle, area and volume with ROI statistics. Its licence states that the program can be installed on any number of computers by everyone and that professionals may give it to patients.
On a Mac the Lite edition is a separate product that covers 2D review, MPR and measurements; Santesoft’s macOS page does not list 3D rendering. Santesoft does not state FDA or CE clearance for its viewers, so check local rules before using any program on this page for primary diagnosis.
Receiving studies from a CBCT or panoramic unit
The feature that made K-PACS popular was its built-in DICOM server: point the imaging unit at the workstation’s AE title, IP address and port, and studies arrived in the local database. Two free programs do this now.
Sante DICOM Viewer Lite as a listener
Santesoft lists the Lite edition as a PACS client that supports all the DICOM network services, including C-STORE as both SCU and SCP. The SCP side means it can accept studies pushed from a scanner or another workstation. Set the local AE title and port, add the same details as a storage destination on the imaging unit, open the port in Windows Firewall and send a test study. If nothing arrives, check the AE title, IP, port and firewall, the same four causes as with K-PACS.
dcm4che storescp for an unattended receiver
If you want a receiver that runs without a user logged in, or on a Linux box, dcm4che’s storescp listens on a port and writes incoming studies to a folder. It is a command-line tool with no viewer, but it is actively maintained, runs on Java 17 or newer, and pairs with storescu for sending, findscu and movescu for query/retrieve, and dcm2jpg or dcm2json for conversion. A scheduled task that forwards the received folder to the practice server replaces much of what K-PACS did on one PC.
Moving an existing K-PACS archive
Do not try to copy the K-PACS database folder into another program. Use DICOM instead: K-PACS can send studies to a remote node, so add the new destination (Sante Lite with its listener configured, or a storescp folder) as a node in K-PACS, select the studies and send them. Work in batches, check that study counts match, and keep the old PC off the internet while it runs.
Burning patient discs
This is the one K-PACS job the free replacements do not cover. Sante DICOM Viewer Lite cannot create patient CDs or DVDs; that function is in Sante DICOM Viewer Pro, which is shareware (conditionally free) with a free demo, and the disc it writes carries a free viewer for Windows and macOS. If discs still matter in your referrals, a paid edition or your scanner vendor’s software is needed; for most colleagues a USB stick with the DICOM folder is enough.
Research and teaching
Mango, from the Research Imaging Institute at UT Health San Antonio, opens DICOM and NIfTI volumes, with ROI tools, CSV statistics and surface rendering. Its licence limits it to educational and scientific non-commercial use and says research only, not clinical. Development is dormant: the last release is 4.1 from March 2019.
ImageJ / Fiji is actively maintained (ImageJ 1.54t, May 2026) and is the better choice for measurements across many radiographs. Its native DICOM support is partial; compressed or multi-frame CBCT exports may need the Bio-Formats importer or a plugin. Neither tool has a DICOM listener, so pair them with dcm4che when images have to be received over the network.
Which one should you use
- Replacing K-PACS on one practice PC: Sante DICOM Viewer Lite. It views, measures, keeps a database and can receive studies, and its licence covers professional use.
- Replacing the server part on a shared machine: dcm4che
storescp, with Sante Lite or the vendor viewer on the workstations. - Teaching lab or research project: Mango or ImageJ / Fiji, keeping Mango’s non-commercial restriction in mind.
- Still need patient discs: Sante DICOM Viewer Pro (shareware) or the scanner vendor’s export tool.
- Nerve tracing, panoramic reconstruction, implant library: none of the programs above does this, and neither did K-PACS. Use the scanner vendor’s software, such as Sidexis, CS Imaging or Ez3D Plus, or a dental package such as OnDemand3D.
- Keeping K-PACS anyway: only on an isolated PC, for non-diagnostic, non-commercial use, on a different port from your practice software.
More free, legacy and vendor viewers are compared in the hub Dental DICOM viewers and PACS.
Limitations
None of these programs claims regulatory clearance: Santesoft publishes no FDA or CE statements, Mango is explicitly not for clinical use, and dcm4che and ImageJ are developer and research tools. Sante Lite has no Linux version, dcm4che has no graphical interface, Mango is dormant, and patient disc burning needs a paid edition or vendor software.
FAQ
Is K-PACS still available for download?
Not from a public product page. Vendor staff have said the installer is in the forum download centre and only visible after logging in with forum credentials, and K-PACS is not on iQ IMAGE’s current free-tools list. Copies on third-party download sites are not official builds.
Is there a K-PACS Workstation 2.5?
No documented release has that number. The last version discussed by the vendor is 1.6.0.
Can a free DICOM viewer receive images from my CBCT like K-PACS did?
Yes. Sante DICOM Viewer Lite lists C-STORE SCP among its network services, so it can be the storage destination for an imaging unit. dcm4che’s storescp does the same from the command line.
What is the best free DICOM viewer for Windows 11?
Among the programs on this site, Sante DICOM Viewer Lite is the free viewer whose developer lists Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) as supported. K-PACS was built for the Windows XP/7 era and has no stated support for current Windows.
Where is the K-PACS manual or configuration guide?
The vendor forum has a “Getting started with K-PACS Workstation 1.6.0” thread and troubleshooting boards. Configuration comes down to an AE title and port in K-PACS, the same details on the imaging device, and an open firewall port.
Last updated: 5 October 2026 · SoftProDents editorial team. Licence, version and platform details are checked against each developer's official documentation; none of the tools listed here should be treated as a certified medical device unless its vendor says so.
