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The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine ( DICOM ) standard is now widely implemented in radiology as the standard for diagnostic imaging .

The DICOM Standard addresses multiple levels of the ISO OSI network model and provides support for the exchange of information on interchange media. DICOM currently defines an upper layer protocol (ULP) that is used over TCP/IP (independent of the physical network), messages, services, information objects and an association negotiation mechanism. These definitions ensure that any two implementations of a compatible set of services and information objects can effectively communicate.

It has also been extended for use in various sub-specialties. One of the first extensions was applied to radiation therapy and is known as DICOM-RT. In addition to the protocol used in the DICOM standard, seven DICOM -RT objects namely, RT Image, RT Structure Set, RT Plan, RT Dose, RT Beams Treatment Record, RT Brachy Treatment Record, and RT Treatment Summary Record have been created, each with a well-defined data model. The data models set the standard for integration of radiation therapy information for an electronic patient record and would facilitate the interoperability of different radiation therapy systems, thus making possible the sharing of information from different systems.

Independence from the underlying network technology allows DICOM to be deployed in many functional areas of application, including but not limited to communication within a single site (often using various forms of Ethernet), between sites over leased lines or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), within a metropolitan area (often using ATM), across dial-up or other remote access connections (such as by modem, ISDN or DSL), and via satellite (with optimized protocol stacks to account for increased latency).

Source: zcherry.com

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