Editing DICOM (section)

== History ==
[[File:Acrnema1.jpg|thumb|Front page of ACR/NEMA 300, version 1.0, which was released in 1985]]

DICOM is a standard developed by [[American College of Radiology]] (ACR) and [[National Electrical Manufacturers Association]] (NEMA).<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=History |url=https://www.dicomstandard.org/history |website=DICOM Standard |location= |publisher= |access-date=}}</ref>

In the beginning of the 1980s, it was very difficult for anyone other than manufacturers of [[computed tomography]] or [[magnetic resonance imaging]] devices to decode the images that the machines generated. Radiologists and medical physicists wanted to use the images for dose-planning for [[radiation therapy]]. ACR and NEMA collaborated and formed a standard committee in 1983. Their first standard, ACR/NEMA 300, entitled "Digital Imaging and Communications", was released in 1985. Very soon after its release, it became clear that improvements were needed. The text was vague and had internal contradictions.

In 1988 the second version was released. This version gained more acceptance among vendors. The image transmission was specified as over a dedicated 2 pair cable ([[EIA-485]]). The first demonstration of ACR/NEMA V2.0 interconnectivity technology was held at Georgetown University, May 21–23, 1990.  Six companies participated in this event, DeJarnette Research Systems, General Electric Medical Systems, Merge Technologies, Siemens Medical Systems, Vortech (acquired by Kodak that same year) and 3M.  Commercial equipment supporting ACR/NEMA 2.0 was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in 1990 by these same vendors.  Many soon realized that the second version also needed improvement. Several extensions to ACR/NEMA 2.0 were created, like Papyrus (developed by the University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland) and SPI (Standard Product Interconnect), driven by Siemens Medical Systems and Philips Medical Systems.

The first large-scale deployment of ACR/NEMA technology was made in 1992 by the US Army and Air Force, as part of the MDIS (Medical Diagnostic Imaging Support)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=D. V. |last2=Smith |first2=S. |last3=Bender |first3=G. N. |last4=Carter |first4=J. R. |last5=Kim |first5=Y. |last6=Cawthon |first6=M. A. |last7=Leckie |first7=R. G. |last8=Weiser |first8=J. C. |last9=Romlein |first9=J. |last10=Goeringer |first10=F. |title=Evaluation of the Medical Diagnostic Imaging Support system based on 2 years of clinical experience |journal=Journal of Digital Imaging |date=May 1995 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=75–87 |doi=10.1007/BF03168130 |pmid=7612705 |doi-access=free }}</ref> program based at Ft. Detrick, Maryland. Loral Aerospace and Siemens Medical Systems led a consortium of companies in deploying the first US military [[Picture archiving and communication system|PACS]] (Picture Archiving and Communications System) at all major Army and Air Force medical treatment facilities and teleradiology nodes at a large number of US military clinics. DeJarnette Research Systems and Merge Technologies provided the modality gateway interfaces from third party imaging modalities to the Siemens SPI network.  The Veterans Administration and the Navy also purchased systems from this contract.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

In 1993 the third version of the standard was released. Its name was then changed to "Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine", abbreviated DICOM. New service classes were defined, network support added and the Conformance Statement was introduced. Initially the DICOM standard was referred to as "DICOM 3.0" to distinguish it from its predecessors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Best |first1=David E. |last2=Horii |first2=Steven C. |last3=Bennett |first3=William C. |last4=Parisot |first4=Charles R. |editor-first1=R. Gilbert |editor-last1=Jost |title=Update of the ACR-NEMA digital imaging and communications in medicine standard |journal=Medical Imaging VI: Pacs Design and Evaluation |date=July 1, 1992 |volume=1654 |pages=356–361 |doi=10.1117/12.60322 |bibcode=1992SPIE.1654..356B }}</ref> DICOM has been constantly updated and extended since 1993, with the intent that changes are backward compatible, except in rare cases where the earlier specification was incorrect or ambiguous. Officially there is no "version" of the standard except the current standard, hence the "3.0" version number is no longer used. There are no "minor" versions to the standard (e.g., no such thing as "DICOM 3.1") and there are no current plans to develop a new, incompatible, version of the standard (i.e., no "DICOM 4.0"). The standard should be referenced without specification of the date of release of a particular published edition,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dicom.nema.org/medical/dicom/current/output/chtml/part01/chapter_7.html|title=7 Referencing The DICOM Standard|website=dicom.nema.org}}</ref> except when specific conformance requirements are invoked that depend on a retired feature that is no longer documented in the current standard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dicom.nema.org/medical/dicom/current/output/chtml/part01/sect_1.4.2.html|title=1.4.2 Continuous Maintenance|website=dicom.nema.org}}</ref>

While the DICOM standard has achieved a near universal level of acceptance among medical imaging equipment vendors and healthcare IT organizations, the standard has its limitations.  DICOM is a standard directed at addressing technical interoperability issues in medical imaging.  It is not a framework or architecture for achieving a useful clinical workflow.  The [[Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise|Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE)]] initiative layered on top of DICOM (and [[HL7|HL-7]]) defines profiles to select features from these standards to implement transactions for specific medical imaging interoperability use cases.

Though always Internet compatible and based on transport over [[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]], over time there has been an increasing need to support port 80 [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP]] transport to make use easier within the web browser. Most recently, a family of DICOM [[Representational state transfer|REST]]ful web services have been defined to allow mobile device friendly access to DICOM objects and services, which include WADO-RS, STOW-RS and QIDO-RS, which together constitute the [[DICOMweb]] initiative.

=== Derivations ===

There are some derivations from the DICOM standard into other application areas. These include [[DICONDE]] (''Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation'') that was established in 2004 by [[ASTM International]] as a way for [[nondestructive testing]] manufacturers and users to share image data.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/SNEWS/OCTOBER_2003/voelker_oct03.html|title=ASTM DICONDE Standard|website=www.astm.org|access-date=December 21, 2018|archive-date=April 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406132524/https://www.astm.org/SNEWS/OCTOBER_2003/voelker_oct03.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> DICONDE can be used for [[Photostimulated luminescence|computed radiography]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e2738-18.html|title=ASTM E2738-18 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Computed Radiography (CR) Test}}</ref> [[digital radiography]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e2699-20.html|title=ASTM E2699-20 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Digital Radiographic (DR) Test Methods}}</ref> [[computed tomography]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e2767-21.html|title=ASTM E2767-21 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Test Methods}}</ref> [[ultrasonic testing]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e2663-23.html|title=ASTM E2663-23 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Ultrasonic Test Methods}}</ref> [[eddy current testing]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e2934-23.html|title=ASTM E2934-23 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Eddy Current (EC) Test Methods}}</ref> and [[thermographic testing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astm.org/e3440-24.html|title=ASTM E3440-24 Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Thermography (TG) Test Methods}}</ref>  DICONDE is used worldwide to store, send, and exchange data from nondestructive material testing. Unlike DICOM in the medical field, the adoption of DICOM has been slower due to the lack of regulatory requirements for manufacturer-independent interoperability. DICONDE is also gaining importance in the context of [[Industry 4.0]] due to its extensive capabilities for networking systems from different manufacturers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndt.org/news.asp?ObjectID=68174|title=NDT.org : Seven reasons for DICONDE|accessdate=2025-03-20|language=en}}</ref>

DICOS (''Digital Imaging and Communication in Security'') that was established in 2009 to be used for image sharing in [[airport security]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nema.org/prod/security/indust-Img.cfm|title=Industrial Imaging and Communications Section|access-date=February 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515113502/http://www.nema.org/prod/security/indust-Img.cfm|archive-date=May 15, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>