The National Electrical Manufacturers Association recently released a significant update of its Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine standard. DICOM establishes a single language for exchanging medical digital images and related patient information, and allows the interoperability of medical imaging equipment. It was developed by software engineers, physicians, trade associations and government agencies. Among the 25 additions to the standard are features covering access to medical images via the Internet, new media, USB and flash memory devices, along with functionality for some of the new specialties that use DICOM, such as dentistry, ophthalmology, breast imaging and OB/GYN. Other new features are designed to help users capture specific information they need in such areas as vascular ultrasound and echocardiography.

“A major enhancement to how DICOM conformance statements are written was added for the 2004 publication,” says Dwight Simon, medical standards director at Merge eFilm and vendor chair of the DICOM committee. “ The newly enhanced DICOM conformance statement definition will help the users better understand a product’s DICOM functionality and give a much better description of the product’s ability to interoperate with another product that supports DICOM features.”

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