DICOMDIR generation

Export the loaded files as a DICOM media set with a DICOMDIR index.

Browser: available nowmacOS app: 1.2.0 or newer

CDs, DVDs and USB drives with DICOM data follow the media rules in DICOM PS3.10: the files sit under short uppercase paths, and a DICOMDIR at the root lists every patient, study, series and instance with the path to its file. dcmage exports the files you have loaded in that layout, so a viewer that reads DICOMDIR can open the set. For background, see What is a DICOMDIR file?.

Steps

1. Open the files (⌘O) or a folder you want in the set.
2. Open the Files tab in the right rail and check the study tree. Remove duplicates or files you do not want to include.
3. Make any tag edits. To de-identify, click Apply in Anon mode to stage the profile. The export writes each file with its staged changes.
4. Click DICOMDIR Media Set in the Files panel.
5. Save the set:
   • In the browser, DICOM_MEDIA.zip downloads. Unzip it and copy its contents, with DICOMDIR at the top level, to the root of the disc or drive.
   • In the Mac app, a save panel opens. Type a name for a new folder and click Save. dcmage creates the folder and writes the set into it. A name that already exists is refused, so the set is never mixed with other files.

What the set contains

DICOMDIR
DICOM/PA000001/ST000001/SE000001/IM000001
DICOM/PA000001/ST000001/SE000001/IM000002
DICOM/PA000001/ST000001/SE000002/IM000001
DICOM/PA000001/ST000002/SE000001/IM000001

• Every loaded file is written. File names are replaced by file IDs of up to eight uppercase letters, digits or underscores per part, with no extension, as PS3.10 requires. Studies, series and instances are numbered in the order the files were loaded.
• The DICOMDIR groups files by Patient ID and name, then Study Instance UID, then Series Instance UID. Its File-set ID is DCMAGE.
• Each instance record gets the type that matches its SOP class: IMAGE for images, SR DOCUMENT for structured reports, KEY OBJECT DOC, PRESENTATION, WAVEFORM, ENCAP DOC, and the RT record types.
• Each record states the file’s own SOP Class UID, SOP Instance UID and transfer syntax. A JPEG 2000 file is listed as JPEG 2000.
• Record keys such as Study Date, Study ID and Accession Number are copied from the files. When a file has no value, the record leaves it empty. dcmage does not invent dates or IDs.
• Each file’s meta header names the same SOP Class and Instance UID as its dataset, including after an edit or de-identification that replaced the UID.

Limits

• Pixel redaction regions are only burned in by Apply & Export in Anon mode. The media set carries tag changes, not pending redaction boxes.
• The export does not burn a disc or add a viewer program. Copy the files to the medium yourself.
• dcmage does not check the set against a PS3.11 application profile. The records carry the keys PS3.3 lists for each record type when the files have them, but profile-specific requirements, such as a fixed transfer syntax for a general-purpose CD, are not enforced.
• The whole set is built in memory before it is saved, so very large studies need enough free memory for every file at once.

Result

A zip in the browser, or a new folder in the Mac app, holds a DICOMDIR and every loaded file under PS3.10 file IDs. Opening the folder in dcmage, or in another viewer that reads DICOMDIR, shows the same patients, studies and series.