UNDERSTANDING AND USING DICOM, THE DATA INTERCHANGE STANDARD FOR BIOMEDICAL IMAGING

The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Standard sp ecifies a non-proprietary data interchange protocol, digital image for mat, and file structure for biomedical images and image-related inform ation. The fundamental concepts of the DICOM message protocol, service s, and information objects are reviewed as background for a detailed d iscussion of the functionality of DICOM; the innovations and limitatio ns of the Standard; and the impact of various DICOM features on inform ation system users. DICOM addresses five general application areas: (1 ) network image management, (2) network image interpretation managemen t, (3) network print management, (4) imaging procedure management, (5) off-line storage media management. DICOM is a complete specification of the elements required to achieve a practical level of automatic int eroperability between biomedical imaging computer systems-from applica tion layer to bit-stream encoding. The Standard is being extended and expanded in modular fashion to support new applications and incorporat e new technology. An interface to other Information Systems provides f or shared management of patient, procedure, and results information re lated to images. A Conformance Statement template enables a knowledgea ble user to determine if interoperability between two implementations is possible. Knowledge of DICOM's benefits and realistic understanding of its limitations enable one to use the Standard effectively as the basis for a long term implementation strategy for image management and communications systems.