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0 pointsmhalle3y ago0 comments

DICOM is a standard for medical imaging, and the patient data related to it, supported by every medical imaging device manufacturer.

JSON is a data format, it isn't in itself a standard for any content in particular, particularly medical imaging content. Think schema, not encoding (and in fact there is a JSON encoding for DICOM).

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randomh3r03y ago· 1 in thread

*supported by every medical imaging device manufacturer going back something like 3+ decades.

This is much less of a problem of shiny-object-syndrome not providing a "better" way of solving the problem(s) and much more one of market inertia, IMO. Many people overlook this.

bick_nyers3y ago

Especially considering that medical information can often need review decades later. Can't just support the new stuff, you need to support the priors that were rendered in the pre-2000s as well.

bick_nyers3y ago

Yup, the way you interpret the JSON or DICOM matters.

In DICOM, the interpretation of the data is coupled with a specific file format, when it doesn't need to be.

We want window leveling to work the same way across the board, but whether you transmit the width, center, and algorithm (linear, sigmoid, etc.) in a DCM file or in JSON or in carrier pigeon doesn't particularly matter so long as the receiver can interpret it.

Would it be better if all modality manufacturers started sending JSON? Probably not, however manufacturers produce non-compliant DICOM ALL THE TIME so there's still an issue there with complexity and lack of strong testing tools for the standard.

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