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. 2012 Apr;25(2):206-12.
doi: 10.1007/s10278-011-9434-6.

A flexible database architecture for mining DICOM objects: the DICOM data warehouse

Steve G Langer  1
Affiliations

A flexible database architecture for mining DICOM objects: the DICOM data warehouse

Steve G Langer. J Digit Imaging. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) has brought a very high level of standardization to medical images, allowing interoperability in many cases. However, there are still challenges facing the informaticist attempting to data mine DICOM objects. Images (and other objects) from different vintage equipment will encompass different levels of the standard, and there are also proprietary "shadow" tags to be aware of. The database architecture described herein "flattens" such differences by compiling a knowledge base of specific DICOM implementations and mapping variable data elements to a common lexicon for subsequent queries. The project is open sourced, built on open infrastructure, and is available at GitHub.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The DDW (DICOM Data Warehouse) database architecture. For a detailed explanation consult the text
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The process of registering a new scanner version in DDW
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
An example of the standard names known by this DDW instance
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
A view into the DDW database that shows the additional tags of interest that the system will harvest and index for three modalities: a GE MR, a Siemens Sensation 16 CT and Sensation 64 CT
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The system level architecture of DDW implemented on a single personal computer for development purposes
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
System level architecture of DDW for a production level deployment among multiple locations. In one site, a single MIRTH gateway is sufficient for the local image generation. In another site, the image volume requires a cluster of MIRTH nodes behind a load balancing switch. After data harvesting, all MIRTH gateways communicate their results to the central database via JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) links
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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