DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine)

DICOM is an international standard for medical images and related information. It is standardised under the auspices of the International Standards Organisation in the document ISO 12052:2006. DICOM defines the formats for medical images that can be exchanged with the data and quality necessary for clinical use. These formats cover images, clinical documentation related to the images, and waveform data, such as ECG readings taken during medical consultations. DICOM formats are implemented by many medical imaging and recording devices. With tens of thousands of imaging devices in use, DICOM is one of the most widely deployed healthcare messaging standards in the world and it has allowed a move to a fully digital workflow.