If you are a medical student, you may just be looking for a way to view and study clinical images. What’s your main intended use for the software?.Some software also offer advanced features, like anonymization, which is particularly useful when conducting clinical research.įrom the standpoint of doctors, medical students, and clinicians, the following points should be kept in mind when looking for a DICOM viewer: DICOM software for clinics can store images to a certain extent on mini-PACS servers. Some applications have the ability to export data as JPEG or GIF files, which can be used in teaching and presentations. Therefore, they do not have any additional features such as sharing or storage.

In fact, most of them are free for basic use.ĭICOM viewers are often developed with a focus on one or more of the following functions:įor instance, some software are meant only for basic viewing. This is our endeavor in this article, to make the decision easier for you by presenting some popular viewers with useful features and very affordable pricing plans.

As a classic case of the paradox of choice, the abundance merely makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to choose the software that would be the best fit for their requirements. Search online and you will find a multitude of options-some freeware, some paid, some targeted at medical students, others at seasoned experts, each with different specifications, systems requirements, add-ons, and capabilities. There is actually no dearth of DICOM viewing software out there. DICOM images are unique in the fact that they contain patient information in addition to the image data.

The purpose of a DICOM application is to store information in the PACS about the imaging examination, along with patient details, and then when required, to view and interpret (and possibly edit) medical images that are retrieved from the PACS. The images, along with the corresponding patient data, are often stored in a large database called the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). DICOM images need to be viewed through specific software called DICOM viewers that can read and display the format. DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) is a standard format that enables medical professionals to view, store, and share medical images irrespective of their geographic location or the devices they use, as long as those devices support the format.

Best free image viewer