An Approach to the Storage of Dicom Files for Grid-enabled Medical Imaging Databases

The Standard for Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) specifies a non-proprietary digital imaging format, file structure and data interchange protocols for the transfer of biomedical images and non-image data related to such images it is a specification of the components that are required in order to achieve inter-operability between biomedical imaging computer systems. We describe how a Grid-enabled medical imaging database (eDiaMoND) employs a relational approach to the storage of DICOM files. Although the work described has been carried out within the context of a specific mammography-related project, the underlying principles are applicable to other medical imaging systems dealing either with other modalities or with other diseases.