OrthoRay – A native, lightweight DICOM viewer written in Rust/wgpu by a surgeon
DrMeric Monday, February 09, 2026Hi HN,
I am an orthopedic surgeon and a self-taught developer. I built OrthoRay because I was frustrated with the lag in standard medical imaging software. Most existing solutions were either bloated Electron apps or expensive cloud subscriptions.
I wanted something instant, local-first, and privacy-focused. So, I spent my nights learning Rust, heavily utilizing AI coding assistants to navigate the steep learning curve and the borrow checker. This project is a testament to how domain experts can build performant native software with AI support.
I built this viewer using Tauri and wgpu for rendering.
Key Features:
Native Performance: Opens 500MB+ MRI series instantly (No Electron, no web wrappers).
GPU-Accelerated: Custom wgpu pipeline for 3D Volume Rendering and MPR.
BoneFidelity: A custom algorithm I developed specifically for high-fidelity bone visualization.
Privacy: Local-first, runs offline, no cloud uploads.
It is currently available on the Microsoft Store as a free hobby project.
Disclaimer: This is intended for academic/research use and is NOT FDA/CE certified for clinical diagnosis.
I am evaluating open-source licensing options to make this a community tool. I’d love your feedback on the rendering performance.
Link: https://orthoarchives.com/en/orthoray