DCMCHECK - Validation of DICOM Images
Description
DCMCHECK is a validation and testing tool for DICOM images. The program reads a DICOM image from a file, checks the conformance of the image concerning the DICOM standard and creates a test report which describes in detail all detected violations of the standard.
The DICOM standard contains Information Object Definitions (IODs) for images generated by each modality type. In order to test if a specific image conforms to its specification, it is necessary to formalize the IODs, their required and optional attributes, including the associated natural language conditions.
For this purpose, DCMCHECK uses a specialized IOD description language which allows to easily add extensions (e. g. private elements, DICOM correction proposals) to the IOD definition without changing the application itself. Images are tested for conformance concerning the definitions in DICOM Part 3 (IOD definition), Part 5 (data structures and encoding) and Part 6 (data dictionary). The conformance of the "meta header" according to part 10 of the standard as well as the consistency between header and meta header are also scrutinized.
Scientific papers on DCMCHECK
The following scientific papers describe the research work on which DCMCHECK is based:
- Hewett AJ, Grevemeyer H, Barth A, Eichelberg M, Jensch P: Conformance Testing of DICOM Objects, in: Medical Imaging 1997, Proceedings SPIE
- Hewett AJ, Grevemeyer H, Barth A, Eichelberg M, Jensch P: Techniques and Experiences in Validating DICOM Images, in: Proceedings EuroPACS 1997, pp. 195-198
Reprints of these publications are available on request.
Features in detail
DCMCHECK supports the following DICOM modalities: CR, CT, MR, Nuclear Medicine (1993 und 1996 versions), Secondary Capture, Ultrasound (1993 und 1996 versions), XA, XA Biplane, RF, Radiotherapy (Image and Structure Set) and Standalone Objects.
DCMCHECK can test images in all uncompressed and JPEG compressed transfer syntaxes. The structure of embedded pixel data is, however, not tested. DCMCHECK supports files with or without meta-header (DICOM part 10).
DCMCHECK is available for Windows NT/2000/XP, SunSoft Solaris 2.x (Sparc) and for Linux on PC systems. DCMCHECK is not available in source code.
