Expected File Types for a Vendor Neutral Archive
What is a VNA? The future of imaging which extends past the Radiology, Cardiology and Nuclear medicine departments. The need for digital pathology, dermatology and dental images has called for a single solution that fulfills the needs of each individual PACS. The idea is to have a solution that can store/transmit/view all types of images regardless of which vendor created it. DICOM or non-DICOM. Proprietary or native.
Support for DICOM Images
A radiology PACS system is expected to store radiology specific images. These DICOM image types will be referred to as SOP classes. Naturally a cardiology PACS system is expected to store cardiology specific images. Ideally, vendor neutral archive should have the ability to store SOP classes from all departments. Whether its radiology, cardiology, dental or ophthalmology, the VNA should be able to store and view all SOP classes. Most of the VNA vendors today have the ability to store a multitude of SOP classes. However, the challenge is for the VNA to be able to view these SOP classes as well. The table below demonstrates what images we should expect a VNA vendor to support for viewing. When integrating your VNA system, please be sure to check this list against your VNA vendor’s DICOM conformance statement.
Support for Non-DICOM Images
In addition to the multitude of DICOM images, a vendor neutral archive is expected to store and view non-DICOM images. This poses an additional challenge as there are several proprietary image types that are specific to certain vendor applications. However, some VNAs have the ability to view more non-DICOM images than others. As non-DICOM images are not DICOM wrapped with patient demographic tags, an XDS registry can be utilized to store the metadata. The second table of possible non-DICOM images is provided below as well.
Ability for VNAs to view DICOM Image Types
| DICOM SOP Class | Viewable in Vendor A VNA | Viewable in Vendor B VNA |
| 12-lead ECG Waveform Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ambulatory ECG Waveform Storage | Yes | No |
| Basic Text SR Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Breast Tomosynthesis Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Cardiac Electrophysiology Waveform Storage | Yes | No |
| Color Softcopy Presentation State Storage SOP Class | Yes | Yes |
| Comprehensive SR Storage | Yes | No |
| Computed Radiography Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| CT Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Intra-Oral X-Ray Image Storage – For Presentation | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Intra-Oral X-Ray Image Storage – For Processing | Yes | No |
| Digital Mammography X-Ray Image Storage – For Presentation | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Mammography X-Ray Image Storage – For Processing | Yes | No |
| Digital X-Ray Image Storage – For Presentation | Yes | Yes |
| Digital X-Ray Image Storage – For Processing | Yes | No |
| Encapsulated CDA Storage | Yes | No |
| Encapsulated PDF Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced CT Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Enhanced MR Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Enhanced SR Storage | Yes | No |
| Enhanced XA Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Enhanced XRF Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced US Volume Storage | Yes | No |
| General ECG Waveform Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Grayscale Softcopy Presentation State Storage SOP Class | Yes | Yes |
| Hardcopy Grayscale Image Storage SOP Class (Retired) | Yes | No |
| Hardcopy Color Image Storage SOP Class (Retired) | Yes | No |
| Hemodynamic Waveform Storage | Yes | No |
| Key Object Selection Document Storage | Yes | Yes |
| MR Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-frame Grayscale Byte Secondary Capture Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-frame Grayscale Word Secondary Capture Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-frame True Color Secondary Capture Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Nuclear Medicine Image Storage (Retired) | Yes | Yes |
| Nuclear Medicine Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ophthalmic Photography 16 Bit Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ophthalmic Photography 8 Bit Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ophthalmic Tomography Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Positron Emission Tomography Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| RT Dose Storage | Yes | No |
| RT Image Storage | Yes | No |
| RT Plan Storage | Yes | No |
| RT Structure Set Storage | Yes | No |
| Secondary Capture Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Spatial Registration Storage | Yes | No |
| Ultrasound Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ultrasound Image Storage (Retired) | Yes | Yes |
| Ultrasound Multi-Frame Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Ultrasound Multi-Frame Image Storage (Retired) | Yes | Yes |
| Video Endoscopic Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Video Microscopic Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Video Photographic Image Storage | Yes | No |
| VL Endoscopic Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| VL Microscopic Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| VL Photographic Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| VL Slide-Coordinates Microscopic Image Storage | Yes | No |
| X-Ray 3D Angiographic Image Storage | Yes | No |
| X-Ray 3D Craniofacial Image Storage | Yes | No |
| X-Ray Angiographic Bi-Plane Image Storage (Retired) | Yes | Yes |
| X-Ray Angiographic Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| X-Ray Radiation Dose SR Storage | Yes | No |
| X-Ray Radiofluoroscopic Image Storage | Yes | Yes |
| Wide Field Ophthalmic Photography Stereographic Projection Image Storage | Yes | No |
| Chest CAD SR | Yes | No |
| Mammography CAD SR | Yes | Yes |
Ability for VNAs to view Non-DICOM Image Types
| Native Image Type | Viewable in Vendor A VNA | Viewable in Vendor B VNA |
| BMP | Yes | Yes |
| JPEG, JPG | Yes | Yes |
| TIFF | Yes | Yes |
| EXIF | Yes | Unknown |
| H264 | Yes | Unknown |
| GIF | Yes | Yes |
| MP4 | Yes | Unknown |
| MPEG4 | Yes | Unknown |
| Yes | Yes | |
| PNG | Yes | Yes |
| Native Video Type | Viewable in Vendor A VNA | Viewable in Vendor B VNA |
| AVI | Yes | Yes |
| MOV | Yes | Unknown |
| MJPEG | Yes | Unknown |
| MPEG | Yes | Unknown |
| MPEG2 | Yes | Unknown |
| MPEG3 | Yes | Unknown |
| Native & Proprietary Pathology | Viewable in Vendor A VNA | Viewable in Vendor B VNA |
| SVC (Aperio) | Yes | No |
| BIF (Huran and Ventana) | Yes | No |
| isyntax (Philips) | No | No |
| mrsx (3DHistech) | No | No |
| MDS (Motic) | No | No |
| NDPI (Hamamatsu) | Yes | No |
| JBIG | Yes | No |
| JPEG2000 | Yes | Unknown |
| AAC | Yes | No |
| DVVIDEO | Yes | No |
| OGG | Yes | No |
| OGV | Yes | No |
| PCX | Yes | No |
| PNM | Yes | No |
| PSD | Yes | No |
| RAW | Yes | No |
| MP3 | Yes | Unknown |
| RTS | Yes | No |
| SCN | Yes | No |
| SGI | Yes | No |
| TGA | Yes | No |
| WAV | Yes | No |
| WebM | Yes | No |
| WMV | Yes | No |
| Other Proprietary Images | ||
| Unknown Legacy Images | No | No |