DICOM standard is the most popular and most used standard around the globe. Pretty much all vendors follow this standard when manufacturing a medical image viewing machine. As a doctor or a medical student, you might want to use a DICOM image viewer. There are plenty of DICOM image viewers on the Internet but not all of them will be compatible with you and not all of them are good. We will walk you through the process to choose the right DICOM viewer with the best quality.
Your Primary Reason for Choosing the DICOM Viewer
Before asking what, ask why? Before choosing a DICOM image viewer as an important part of diagnostic medical imaging, ask yourself why do you want to use this viewer? What’s the main purpose of this viewer? A doctor and a medical student have different needs for this software. A professional full-time radiologist would need high-end software that comes with specialized plug-ins and structured reporting. A medical student, on the other hand, may just want to look at medical images for study purposes and doesn’t need that high-end a viewer.
The Compatibility of the Viewer with Your Operating System
While there are DICOM viewers that run on multiple operating systems, there are a few which only run on one. Some may run only on Macs or Windows; some may run on both but not on Linux! Before choosing a viewer, look if it is compatible with your operating system.
Make Sure the Viewer Runs on Multiple Devices
People nowadays don’t only use one electronic device, they use multiple, e.g. PC, Laptop, Tablet, etc. Check if the DICOM viewer you are choosing runs on multiple devices. That way when you need to run it from the secondary device you have, you won’t have any problem in doing so.
Look if the Viewer Has the Added Features That You Want
If you are a professional, you will want the DICOM viewer you are using has all the added features that you need. Make a list of every added feature you want and check if the viewer has them. Most DICOM viewers today can read common modalities like CT, MRI, and Ultrasound images, but not all of them can read MIP, MPR. PET to CT or PET to MRIs are also some of the features to look for.
PACS Integration and Free Storage
The viewer you are choosing has to be integrated with a PACS server and provide enough space for storage. Some servers are located or connected to an institution, on the other hand, some PACS servers provide cloud-based storage. Find out which one you need and choose accordingly. Cloud-based storage is very useful when you want to access the files from anywhere you want.
Conclusion
Choosing the right DICOM viewer can help you in many ways and help you reach your intended result on time. If you follow the process we have given above, you will surely find your ideal match for DICOM viewer.
