DICOMweb

DICOMweb is a set of RESTful web services defined as part of the DICOM standard (DICOM Part 18) that enables access to, search for, and storage of DICOM medical images and related objects over HTTP or HTTPS. It is designed to support web and cloud environments, allowing web-based clients and services to interact with DICOM-compliant systems such as Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) without requiring traditional DICOM client software.

The core services are QIDO-RS for query, STOW-RS for store, and WADO-RS for retrieval. QIDO-RS supports querying for studies, series, and instances using parameters like patientName, patientID, studyDate, modality, and returns structured metadata (often in JSON). STOW-RS enables clients to upload DICOM objects to a server using standard transfer syntax. WADO-RS provides retrieval endpoints to obtain complete DICOM objects or rendered representations, with control over the level of detail and format via HTTP headers and URL segments.

These endpoints are organized by hierarchical levels such as studies, series, and instances. Interoperability relies on DICOM UIDs and standardized response schemas. DICOMweb servers typically support TLS for transport security and may implement authentication, authorization, and cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) to facilitate web access from browsers and cloud services. Some deployments also support streaming or partial content delivery to handle large image sets.

Impact and adoption: DICOMweb aims to simplify integration of imaging data with modern IT infrastructures, enabling web and mobile clients, cloud pipelines, and research tools to access, search, and store DICOM data in a consistent, interoperable manner. It complements earlier browser-friendly approaches like WADO-URI and is supported by multiple vendors and open-source projects.