Image Standards

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine, or DICOM, is a standard that was developed for the communication of medical images and associated information. Work on the standard has been in progress since 1983, when the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) formed a joint committee to develop a standard means for digital medical-imaging equipment (e.g., computerized tomography [CT], magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, and ultrasound) to interface with other manufacturers' devices.

DICOM 3.0 defines such things as the transmission of imaging information over standard networks. The next version will include support for the creation of files on removable media (e.g., optical disks and magnetic tape), new data structures for X-ray angiography, and improved print management facilities. For more information on DICOM: http://www.xray.hmc.psu.edu .

The standard also supports an object-oriented design approach that interrelates objects and services in so-called service-object pairs (SOPs).