One of the purposes of the DICOM standard is to promote the communication of digital image information, regardless of device manufacturer. There are numerous examples of how DICOM has made manufacturer interconnectivity a reality. While DICOM has made cross-vendor connectivity much easier to achieve, applications often depend on vendor specific information for optimal performance. Our experience in implementing DICOM's Print Management Meta SOP Classes is used to examine this concept. Indeed, DICOM has made it much easier to print to many manufacturer's imagers. However, most imagers require some unique information in order to print high quality images. Although DICOM has facilitated the simple act of printing it has also put an added burden on the developer of Print Management applications. They must supply applications that are flexible enough to provide each imager with the information necessary for diagnostic quality images. Without this type of flexibility, applications may be DICOM conformant and operational, but they will not be useful in a clinical environment.

Date Published: 22 May 1997
PDF: 3 pages
Proc. SPIE 3035, Medical Imaging 1997: PACS Design and Evaluation: Engineering and Clinical Issues, (22 May 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.274565

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3035:
Medical Imaging 1997: PACS Design and Evaluation: Engineering and Clinical Issues
Steven C. Horii M.D.; G. James Blaine, Editor(s)