An XML document that specifies the set of attributes to be made anonymous, and defines the actions required to make those attributes anonymous.

The semantic consistency of DICOM content with regard to application-specific constraint rules, which can be stronger or weaker than rules in the DICOM standard. Administrators can define constraint documents to include user-defined rules that are specific to a particular organization.

A unique identifier for each DICOM client running on the network.

A unique document for each database instance that is applicable to all DICOM content stored in the database. Configuration documents are managed by the repository. Examples include private and standard dictionary documents, mapping documents, constraint documents, and preference documents.

The process of checking the conformance of DICOM content against a set of constraint documents that define rules with which to validate conformance. Oracle extends conformance validation to DICOM metadata documents as well.

An XML document that defines a collection of rules to validate the conformance of DICOM content, according to the DICOM standard and other organization-wide guidelines. Constraint documents specify the relationships and semantic constraints of attributes that are not expressed by the DICOM metadata schema. Constraint documents are based on the SOP class specification defined in Part 3 of the DICOM standard. Administrators can define constraint documents to include user-defined rules that are specific to a particular organization.

A simplified definition of a complex constraint rule. Constraint macros can be defined as global macros, and follow the same predicate definition grammar as constraint rules. Constraint macros can include predicate operands, which can contain macro parameters that are replaced with parameter values when the macro is invoked. Constraint macros can also be recursive, which is useful when specifying validation requirements for hierarchical or recursive structured DICOM content.

A definition of a condition that operates on individual attributes or sets of attributes in the DICOM content. A constraint predicate can be a logical statement, a relational statement that compares values, a function call evaluation that returns a Boolean type, or a reference to other predicate definitions. Predicate definitions are recursive.

A collection of rules to validate the conformance of DICOM content according to the DICOM standard. These rules are defined in constraint documents, which specify the relationships and semantic rules of attributes that are not expressed by the DICOM metadata schema. Administrators can define constraint documents to include user-defined rules that are specific to a particular organization.

A set of collectively managed, user-configurable documents that defines the run-time behavior of Oracle Multimedia DICOM. Administrators can update the repository to configure Oracle Multimedia DICOM for a particular database instance.

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine. A medical imaging standard initiated by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to enhance the connectivity of radiological devices. The DICOM standard specifies an imaging file format and a networking protocol designed to be used in the medical imaging domain. It is the dominant standard for medical imaging and communication.

An encoded representation of the metadata within DICOM content that can be used with XML schemas. DICOM attribute tags include standard tags, which are supported by the DICOM standard, and user-defined private tags. DICOM attribute tags contain a group number and an element number.

An application or system that uses the DICOM network protocol to communicate. PACS and DICOM viewers are examples of DICOM clients.

A utility that checks the syntactical and semantic consistency of DICOM content in accordance with constraint rules specified in the data model repository.

Multiple standalone DICOM Information Objects that are structured and encoded as defined in Part 10 of the DICOM standard (commonly referred to as DICOM Part 10 files). For more information, see the DICOM standard on the NEMA Web site at

http://medical.nema.org/

A scheduled service of the Oracle DICOM protocol adapter suite. The Oracle DICOM crawler periodically queries a set of PACS using the DICOM protocol to import new DICOM images and DICOM metadata into Oracle Database.

See value representation.

An XML schema that defines the value representations (DICOM data types) provided in Part 5 of the DICOM standard. This data type definition schema is strongly coupled with the DICOM parser. It is designed by Oracle, the content is fixed, and it ships with Oracle Multimedia.

See transfer syntax.

Any DICOM content that can be decomposed into 2-D pixel arrays. Examples include a video segment, a volume scan, and a single-frame dental image.

An XML document that contains the metadata, as encoded attributes, extracted from DICOM content. Oracle provides methods to build a metadata document from DICOM content. Each metadata schema requires a mapping document that defines how attributes from the DICOM content are to be mapped into an XML document that conforms to the schema. In addition, each metadata schema references the DICOM data type definition schema.

A utility that extracts metadata from DICOM content into a structure in memory.

A standalone DICOM Information Object, which is constructed in accordance with the data structure and encoding definitions specified in Part 10 of the DICOM standard. For more information, see the DICOM standard on the NEMA Web site at

http://medical.nema.org/

The core application of the Oracle DICOM protocol adapter suite. The Oracle DICOM protocol adapter serves as a bridge between standard DICOM clients and Oracle Database.

A set of Oracle WebLogic applications that interact with Oracle Database to perform operations based on the communications with the DICOM clients to store, query, and retrieve images from Oracle Database. These WebLogic applications are available as adapters to communicate with PACS, viewers, and other DICOM clients. They include the DICOM protocol adapter, the DICOM crawler, and the DICOM WADO proxy.

An XML document that defines how to manage the behavior of a DICOM protocol adapter instance that is configured to use Oracle Database as the backing storage mechanism for DICOM images and metadata. DICOM protocol documents are named containers for user-configurable parameters that govern where DICOM images and metadata are stored in Oracle Database.

The dominant standard for radiology imaging and communication to which all major manufacturers conform. The DICOM standard is primarily developed and maintained by working groups of domain experts. A new version is usually published once a year. The standard is available worldwide from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Web site at

http://medical.nema.org/

A DICOM type that identifies an attribute in the DICOM content, either at the root level or from the root level down. Each level in the tree hierarchy is represented by a sublocator.

A specialized software application designed to query, retrieve, and examine DICOM images, which doctors can analyze and use in diagnosis. DICOM viewers use the DICOM protocol to communicate directly with a DICOM image archive system.

A set of images gathered in a single imaging operation. These images can be stored as separate slices in multiple ORDDicom objects. Or, they can be stored as single ORDDicom multiframe objects.

A service of the Oracle DICOM protocol adapter suite. The Oracle DICOM WADO proxy is used to retrieve DICOM images from remote DICOM clients by way of a WADO-formatted URL.

A utility that converts the in-memory structure of the extracted DICOM attributes into an XML document.

See DICOM.

A utility that provides support for operations such as producing thumbnail-size images and converting between DICOM and other supported image formats. When used with Oracle Multimedia DICOM methods, this utility supports import and export operations between the database and operating system files (external file storage).

An object-oriented representation of a real world entity in DICOM. Examples include images and waveforms captured by imaging devices.

A part of a DICOM data element whose XML path is explicitly defined in a mapping document.

See also unmapped attribute.

An XML document that defines how each attribute maps to a particular element of a DICOM XML metadata document. This document determines the structure of the extracted XML representation of the DICOM metadata.

The process of encoding the extracted DICOM attributes into a DICOM metadata document.

The process of extracting attributes from DICOM content.

The XML schema document that constrains the DICOM metadata document. This schema references the DICOM data type definition schema. Oracle supports customization of the metadata schema for each instance of the database. Oracle ships a default metadata schema with Oracle Multimedia. Administrators can update the default metadata schema and the corresponding mapping document to define a schema that is specific to the database instance.

A property of DICOM value locators that exists when the last attribute tag in an array is specified as DICOM type SQ, OW, OB, OF, or UN.

See also scalar attribute.

In Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1), the name Oracle interMedia was changed to Oracle Multimedia.

Picture Archiving and Communication Systems. Systems designed to store and transfer medical images that are stored in the DICOM format using the DICOM network protocol. Medical imaging devices communicate with one or more PACS to store images resulting from study procedures.

See PACS.

An XML document that defines a set of run-time parameters, such as specifying whether Oracle Multimedia DICOM skips invalid attributes and their values in the binary output of DICOM content when making a copy of DICOM content. Oracle ships a default preference document with Oracle Multimedia. Administrators can update the default preference document to change the run-time behavior. For example, administrators can specify whether to validate XML documents used in DICOM functions and procedures or cause attributes larger than a specified size to be omitted when encoding attributes into XML.

A set of attributes defined by an organization and encoded in DICOM content according to the encoding rules set by that organization for those attributes. Private attributes can add modality-specific, manufacturer-specific, or site-specific information to DICOM content. Private attributes are not administered by the DICOM standard, and they are generally not known or used by any organization other than the one that defined the private attributes.

A document that lists the private attributes in the data dictionary. A data dictionary can contain one or more private dictionary documents. Each private dictionary document contains the definitions for a set of private attributes and the UID of the organization that defined the private attributes. Private dictionary documents can be published by Oracle or a third party. DICOM administrators can add new private dictionary documents to the data dictionary as they become available. Private dictionary documents enable users to extend the standard dictionary document definitions by adding manufacturer-specific or enterprise-specific attributes to DICOM content. Private dictionary documents are constrained by private dictionary schemas.

A library used to store documents that are applicable to all ORDDicom objects stored in a database instance. Administrators can access the repository and update the documents stored in it. Changes made to these documents change the outcome of the affected Oracle Multimedia DICOM methods and procedures. Examples of documents stored in the repository include mapping documents, data dictionary documents, and constraint documents. At run time, a specified method is used to query the repository to obtain the latest copy of these documents. For example, a DICOM administrator can update an attribute definition in a data dictionary document and change its data type from DA (date) to DT (date time). From that point forward, after setting to the new data model the parser interprets the attribute as an instance of the DT data type, and the metadata encoder encodes the attribute as DT in all future metadata documents.

A property of DICOM value locators in an array of attribute tags for supported DICOM types.

See also nonscalar attribute.

The process of using an XML schema definition to validate an XML document that is constrained by the schema. Schema validation enables users to confirm the correctness of data types, data formats, and data hierarchies. Schema validation applies to XML documents only. It does not apply to DICOM content.

See SOP.

Service object pair. The combination of services and information objects.

A service object pair (SOP) class. This class is used to model a category of information object and a set of operations associated with that information object.

The set of attributes defined by the DICOM Standards Committee, which is published in Part 6 of the DICOM standard. Standard attributes can be modified or deprecated by the DICOM Standards Committee in the future. The number of standard attributes increases each year as the DICOM standard expands to include new areas of technology.

A document that lists the attributes defined by the DICOM standard. The DICOM standard dictionary document is converted from Part 6 of the DICOM standard. The DICOM Standards Committee expects to publish this document in XML format in the future. Oracle software releases include a copy of the standard dictionary document tied to a particular release of the DICOM standard. Administrators can update this standard dictionary document to reflect the most recent changes made by the DICOM Standards Committee.

The syntactical and semantic consistency of DICOM content with regard to the DICOM standard. The default constraint document that Oracle ships with Oracle Multimedia defines rules that enforce conformance with parts of the DICOM standard.

An optional XML document that specifies the DICOM attributes to be extracted from the embedded DICOM content and stored in the XML metadata attribute of the ORDDicom object when the setProperties( ) method is called. Generally, stored tag list documents contain the attribute tags used in mapping and constraint documents.

Encoding rules for medical imaging that specify how to encode DICOM content into a binary stream. These rules also specify how to compress the data content. Supported DICOM compression schemes (codecs) include RLE, JPEG, and JPEG2000.

Unique identifier. A 64-byte, dot-concatenated, numeric string (similar to an IP address). The UID is based on an ISO object identifier (OID). It is commonly constructed with a root that uniquely identifies the organization producing the DICOM content, and a suffix that uniquely identifies the DICOM content within that organization.

An XML document that lists unique identifiers (UIDs) defined by the DICOM standard or a private organization. Rather than defining the DICOM content UIDs, UID definition documents contain a registry of standard UIDs that classify the DICOM content and express standard semantics.

See also UID.

See UID.

A part of a DICOM data element whose XML path is not explicitly defined in a mapping document.

See also mapped attribute.

A constraint rule that specifies how many times the value of an attribute can be repeated. It is part of the standard attribute specification (defined in Part 6 of the DICOM standard).

The data type, as defined by the DICOM standard. The DICOM standard defines standard data types in Part 5. See the XML schema ordcmrdt.xsd (available in the ord/dicom/xml/xsd directory under <ORACLE_HOME>) for more information about the data types supported by Oracle Multimedia DICOM.

Web Access to DICOM Objects. An HTTP-based protocol defined as part of the DICOM standard (in Part 18). It allows standard HTTP clients to retrieve DICOM images by way of a WADO-formatted HTTP URL.

See WADO.

An XML document used to define how to map DICOM attributes to elements in the DICOM metadata document. The XML mapping document is used by the metadata encoder to produce a DICOM metadata document. Because the metadata document is constrained by the metadata schema, the XML mapping document must match the metadata schema. Oracle Multimedia defines a default mapping document that coincides with the DICOM metadata schema. Administrators can update the mapping document and the corresponding metadata schema to define a schema that is specific to each database instance.