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DICOM
DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) is an international standard for transmitting, storing, retrieving, printing, and displaying medical imaging information. It enables seamless interoperability between medical imaging devices, systems, and healthcare providers around the world, facilitating accurate diagnostics and efficient patient care..
DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), originally specified by ACR/NEMA, defines a comprehensive standard that governs the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data across diverse hardware and software systems. It prescribes a communication protocol, file format, and data structure to ensure accurate exchange of diagnostic images, waveform data, annotations, reports, and patient information. The protocol typically operates over TCP/IP networks, primarily utilizing port 104, for secure and reliable data transmission between modalities, PACS servers, and viewing workstations.
DICOM supports various imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, X-rays, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine, offering interoperability between equipment regardless of vendor. The standard specifies data encoding rules and service classes for functions including image query/retrieve, storage, print management, and modality worklist management. Its extensible architecture permits the integration of additional services over time, aligning with advances in medical imaging technology.
Port 104 is often used as a default listener on PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) servers, where imaging modalities send or request DICOM-formatted files. While TCP is standard for reliable transfer, DICOM services can be transferred over UDP in some scenarios, though the emphasis is generally on reliable, orderly, connection-oriented communication.