dcm4che3

dcm4che3
Developer(s)	Gunter Zeilinger, dcm4che development team
Initial release	May 31, 2006 (2.0.5)
Stable release	5.32.0 (April 22, 2024; 6 months ago) [±]
Preview release	none [±]
Written in	Java
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Laboratory informatics software
License(s)	GNU General Public License v2.0, GNU Library or Lesser General Public License v2.1,; and the Mozilla Public License v1.1
Website	dcm4che.org

dcm4che3 is an open-source collection of applications and utilities for healthcare entities handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. Like its predecessors "dcm4che" and "dcm4che2," this software utilizes the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard.

Product history

Around 2000, software developer Gunter Zeilinger wrote the code for JDicom, a popular DICOM application suite for handling and troubleshooting digital imaging processes. However, Zeilinger's experience using the Java DICOM Toolkit (JDT) to create JDicom led him to create his own Java-based DICOM toolkit. dcm4che was the end result, with the "che" part of the name supposedly being "inspired by the revolutionary nature of open source," and thus the revolutionary Che Guevara.^[2] Intended as a JSR (Java Specification Request) as a standard Java-based DICOM API, the toolkit took on greater popularity within the Java DICOM development community.

By 2006, however, Zeilinger saw a greater need for a more streamlined and memory-friendly version of the software.^[2] On May 31, 2006, the first open-source version of dmc4che2 saw light as version 2.0.5.^[1] Since then developmental revisions have occurred at a mostly steady pace, slowing down in progress by 2011.

In November 2012, the seeds of dcm4che3 were released as version 3.0.0.^[3] By release 3.2.0, the software was being fully referred to as "dcm4che3" in the files, and development has continued on it since.

The last version of dcm4che2 was 2.0.29, released on June 10, 2015.^[1]

Features

There are many utilities contained within the dcm4che2 toolkit. Here's a basic rundown of their functions^[4]:

dcm2txt - Convert a DICOM object to text
dcm2xml - Convert a DICOM object to XML
dcmdir - Manipulate a DICOM dir
dcmecho - Initiate a C-ECHO command as an SCU
dcmgpwl - Query a General Purpose Worklist SCP
dcmmwl - Query a Modality Worklist SCP
dcmof - Simulate an Order Filler application
dcmqr - Perform C-FIND, C-GET and C-MOVE operations as an SCU
dcmrcv - DICOM receiver (C-STORE SCP)
dcmsnd - Perform C-STORE operations as an SCU
dcmups - Unified Worklist and Procedure Step SCU
dcmwado - Initiate DICOM WADO requests
jpg2dcm - Convert a JPEG image to DICOM
logger - Log files to a Syslog destination
mkelmdic - Create the serialized dcm4che2 DICOM dictionary
mkuiddic - Create the dcm4che2 UID dictionary
mkvrmap - Create the dcm4che2 VR mappings
pdf2dcm - Convert a PDF document to DICOM
rgb2ybr - Convert pixel data from YBR to RGB format
txt2dcmsr - Convert text to a DICOM Structured Report
xml2dcm - Convert XML to DICOM

Hardware/software requirements

Some extra precautions might need to be taken if installing on a Redhat/Fedora system.

For building all components of the toolkit, you'll need:

Ant 1.6.x
Maven 2.0.9

More information found here.

Videos, screenshots, and other media

Entities using dcm4che2

Nearly 40 healthcare providers, research projects, and software developers claim to be utilizing some form of dcm4che as of July 2012. Please refer to the dcm4che website for more information.