Designation: E 2339 04

Standard Practice for

Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive

Evaluation (DICONDE)1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation E 2339; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

2. Referenced Documents
2.1 ASTM Standards:
E 1316 Terminology for Nondestructive Examinations
2.2 Other Documentation:
NEMA Standards Publication PS3.1, Version 3: Digital
Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)
ACR-NEMA 3001998 Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine

1. Scope
1.1 This practice facilitates the interoperability of NDE
imaging and data acquisition equipment by specifying the
image data file format in commonly accepted terms. This
practice represents a harmonization of NDE imaging systems,
or modalities, with the NEMA Standards Publication titled
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM,
see http://medical.nema.org/dicom/2003.html), an international
standard for image data acquisition, review, storage and
archival. In addition, this practice will provide a standard set of
industrial NDE specific information object definitions, which
travel beyond the scope of standard DICOM modalities. The
goal of this practice is to provide a standard by which NDE
image/signal data may be displayed on by any system conforming to the ASTM DICONDE format, regardless of which
NDE modality was used to acquire the data.
1.2 This practice has been developed to overcome the issues
that arise when archiving or analyzing the data from a variety
of NDE techniques, each using proprietary data acquisition
systems. As data acquisition modalities evolve, data acquired
in the past must remain decipherable. This practice proposes an
image data file format in such a way that all the technique
parameters, along with the image file, are preserved, regardless
of changes in NDE technology. This practice will also permit
the viewing of a variety of image types (CT, CR, Ultrasonic,
Infrared and Eddy Current) on a single workstation, maintaining all of the pertinent technique parameters along with the
image file. This practice addresses the exchange of digital
information between NDE imaging equipment.
1.3 This practice does not specify:
1.3.1 A testing or validation procedure to assess an implementations conformance to the standard.
1.3.2 The implementation details of any features of the
standard on a device claiming conformance.
1.3.3 The overall set of features and functions to be expected from a system implemented by integrating a group of
devices each claiming DICONDE or DICOM conformance.

3. Terminology
3.1 Definitions:
3.1.1 Nondestructive evaluation terms used in this practice
can be found in Terminology E 1316.
3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
3.2.1 AEapplication entity
3.2.2 attributea property of an information object. An
attribute has a name and a value, which are independent of any
encoding scheme.
3.2.3 conformance statementa formal statement associated with a specific implementation of the standard, specifying
the service class, information objects, and communications
protocols supported by the implementations.
3.2.4 data dictionarya registry of data elements, which
assigns a unique tag, a name, value characteristics, and
semantics to each data element.
3.2.5 tag identifieran ordered pair (gggg, eeee) where
gggg represents the group number and eeee represents the data
element.
3.2.6 typethe value characteristics associated with the
data elements, that is, the data structure definition, based on the
negotiated transfer syntax.
3.2.7 Value Representation (VR)the value characteristics
associated with the data elements, that is, the data structure
definition, based on the negotiated transfer syntax.
4. Summary of Practice
4.1 The basic concept of using DICONDE (or DICOM) is
the usage of standardized data tag identifiers. This means all
participants are using database entries representing the same
information and have a common understanding of communication protocols for mutual use. For standardization of data
transfer, the conformance statement, a mutually agreed upon

1
This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E07 on Nondestructive Testing and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E07.11 on Digital
Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE).
Current edition approved May 1, 2004. Published June 2004.

Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

E 2339 04
version 1.0, the published revisions, and additional revisions. It
also included new material to provide command support for
display devices, to introduce a new hierarchy scheme to
identify an image, and to add data elements for increased
specificity when describing an image.
6.1.5 These standards publications specified a hardware
interface, a minimum set of software commands, and a
consistent set of data formats.
6.2 The DICOM Standard
6.2.1 DICOM, Digital Imaging and Communications in
Medicine Version 3.0 embodies a number of major enhancements to previous versions of the standard:
6.2.1.1 It is applicable to a networked environment. The
previous versions were applicable in a point-to-point environment only; for operation in a networked environment a
Network Interface Unit (NIU) was required. DICOM Version
3.0 supports operation in a networked environment using
standard networking protocols such as OSI and TCP/IP.
6.2.1.2 It specifies how devices claiming conformance to
the standard react to commands and data being exchanged.
Previous versions were confined to the transfer of data, but
DICOM Version 3.0 specifies, through the concept of service
classes, the semantics of commands and associated data.
6.2.1.3 It specifies levels of conformance. Previous versions
specified a minimum level of conformance. DICOM Version
3.0 explicitly describes how an implementer must structure a
conformance claim to select specific options.
6.2.1.4 It is structured as a multi-part document. This
facilitates evolution of the Standard in a rapidly evolving
environment by simplifying the addition of new features. ISO
directives which define how to structure multi-part documents
have been followed in the construction of the DICOM Standard.
6.2.1.5 It introduces explicit Information Objects not only
for images and graphics but also for studies, reports, and so
forth.
6.2.1.6 It specifies an established technique for uniquely
identifying any information object. This facilitates unambiguous definitions of relationships between Information Objects as
they are acted upon across the network.
6.2.2 DICOM was developed in liaison with ACR (the
American College of Radiology) and NEMA (the National
Electrical Manufacturers Association) and other Standard Organizations including CEN TC251 in Europe and JIRA in
Japan, with review also by other organizations including IEEE,
HL7 and ANSI in the USA. The DICOM Standard is structured
as a multi-part document.
6.2.3 The DICOM standard consists of the following parts:
6.2.3.1 Part 1Introduction and Overview
6.2.3.2 Part 2Conformance: The principles that implementations claiming conformance to the standard shall follow,
specifically, the requirements as defined in the DICOM standard. The conformance requirement specifies the general
requirements, which must be met by any implementation
claiming conformance. The conformance claim defines the
structure of a conformance claim and specifies the information,
which must be present in a conformance claim. These are

document provides the specific database tag identifiers for

every part of the NDE data stream as well as the communications protocols.
4.2 The DICONDE practice will consist of descriptions of
the object definitions which are specific to NDE (that is, no
equivalent counterpart in medicine) and provide standard
database tag identifiers for use with the DICOM database
already in existence. The use of this practice is based upon and
to be used in conjunction with the medical DICOM standard.
This practice, in conjunction with the DICOM standard, will
set forth the requirements for the transfer and display of NDE
image data from any NDE image modalities equipment.
5. Significance and Use
5.1 Personnel that are responsible for the transfer of NDE
data between systems will use this standard. This practice will
define a set of NDE information object definitions that along
with the DICOM standard will provide a standard means to
organize image data. Once conformance statements have been
generated, the NDE image data may be displayed on any
imaging/analysis device that conforms to the standard. This
process of developing conformance statements with both the
NDE specific object definitions and the DICOM accepted
definitions, will provide a means to automatically and transparently communicate between compliant equipment without
loss of information.
NOTE 1Knowledge and understanding of the existing DICOM standard will be required to generate conformance statements and thereby
facilitate the data transfer.

6. Background: DICOM (Digital Imaging

Communication for Medicine)
6.1 History
6.1.1 With the introduction of computed tomography (CT)
and other digital diagnostic imaging modalities in the 1970s,
and the increasing use of computers in clinical applications, the
American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National
Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recognized the
emerging need for a standard method for transferring images
and associated information between devices manufactured by
various vendors. These devices produce a variety of digital
image formats.
6.1.2 The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
formed a joint committee in 1983 to develop a standard to:
6.1.2.1 promote communication of digital image information, regardless of device manufacturer;
6.1.2.2 facilitate the development and expansion of picture
archiving and communication systems (PACS) that can also
interface with other systems of hospital information;
6.1.2.3 allow the creation of diagnostic information data
bases that can be interrogated by a wide variety of devices
distributed geographically.
6.1.3 ACR-NEMA Standards Publication No. 300-1985,
published in 1985 was designated version 1.0. The Standard
was followed by two revisions, No. 1 dated October 1986 and
No. 2 dated January 1988.
6.1.4 ACR-NEMA Standards Publication No. 300-1988,
published in 1988 was designated version 2.0. It included
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8.1.1 For all modules shown as DICOM IODs, the details of
the Composite Information Object Definition can be found in
the NEMA Standard Part 3 Sections A.1.1 through A.1.3.
8.2 DICOM to DICONDE I Information Object Definition
8.2.1 The composite information object modules developed
for DICOM include specifications for Computed Radiography
(CR), Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance
(MR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NM), Ultrasonics (US),
Ultrasonics-multi-frame (US-mf), and non-image signal. Industrial NDE has additional requirements for the additional
methods used.
8.2.2 In addition to certain technique changes, certain aspects of the modules must refer to different aspects of the
industrial NDE community. For instance, industry deals with
parts not patients. Ultimately, this will require the additional
standard object definitions pertinent to industrial NDE, though
the majority of the modules of DICOM can still be utilized.
These common industrial NDE specific information object
definition modules are defined in this practice. These changes
will still permit the use of the DICOM standard for industrial
use, with only a minor change in the object definitions
protocols.

further referenced in the conformance sections of each of the

NDE modality practices.
6.2.3.3 Part 3Information Object Definitions
6.2.3.4 Part 4Service Class Specifications: The characteristics shared by all service classes, and how a conformance
claim to an individual service class is structured is defined.
6.2.3.5 Part 5Data Structure and Semantics: The encoding rules necessary to construct a Data Stream to be conveyed
in a message are addressed.
6.2.3.6 Part 6Data Dictionary: The centralized registry,
which defines the collection of all data elements available to
represent information, is called the data dictionary.
6.2.3.7 Part 7Message Exchange: The message exchange
specifies the rules to establish and terminate associations
provided by the communications support; the rules that govern
the exchange of command requests and responses; and the
encoding rules necessary to construct command streams and
messages.
6.2.3.8 Part 8Network Communication Support for Message Exchange: The communication services and the upper
layer protocols necessary to support, in a networked environment, the application message exchange are specified.
6.2.3.9 Part 9Point-to-Point Communication Support for
Message Exchange: The service and protocols used for pointto-point communications (the physical interface and signaling
protocols) are specified. The OSI-like data link and session/
transport/network protocols and the services of the protocol
stack to be used on this physical interface are defined.
6.2.4 The Parts are related but independent documents.
Their development level and approval status may differ.

NOTE 2The entries grayed out are those modules that are not typically
used for industrial NDE.

8.2.3 In summary, only three additional common information object definitions modules must be defined for industrial
NDE: Component, Component Summary and Component
Study.
8.2.4 The following Table 1 represents the Composite Information Object Modules Overview with the DICOM and the
additional DICONDE module requirements information.
Where similarities exist, the DICONDE modules will use
existing DICOM module information. For example, the Patient
Module will be used extensively to correlate to the Component
Module for industrial NDE. An M in the Table means a
Mandatory module, a C means Conditional use of the
module, and U means User Option for use of the module.
Refer to the corresponding Information Object Definitions in
the DICOM Annex for details.

7. DICONDE Introduction
7.1 This practice provides an introduction and overview of
DICONDE standard, the industrial NDE extension of the
medical community DICOM standard published by NEMA.
7.1.1 General Structure of DICONDE
7.1.1.1 DICONDE, utilizing the existing DICOM database
of object definitions, provides additional object definitions that
represent a conversion between the medical community language in DICOM, to the terminology appropriate to NDE.
Each Image Information Object Definition specifies an image,
which has been created by an NDE imaging device. For this
practice, only the common NDE Image Information Object
Definition Modules which differ from the medical system will
be discussed. For each specific NDE modality, refer to the
practice that describes that specific technique. Refer to NEMA
Standards Publication PS3.1, Version 3 for additional specifics.
7.1.1.2 Table 1 is a matrix, called the Composite Information Object Modules Overview, which describes the requirements for each of the different techniques. It shows which of
each of the Information Object Definition (IOD) modules are
required or optional for each of the NDE modalities. Each of
the specific NDE modalities IODs will be covered in their own
standards. This practice will describe only the common NDE
specific composite object modules that differ from the existing
DICOM Standard.

9. DICONDE Modules
9.1 Each module, for industrial NDE specific data, must be
described by an Attribute Name and a Data Element Tag. The
following Modules with Attribute Name and Tag Identifier will
be used for the common NDE Composite Information Object
Definition Modules. Notice that unique Attribute Name and
Tag Identifiers are being defined as the common IOD Modules
for industrial NDE application. To prevent possible confusion
between medical and industrial applications, the NDE Tag
Identifiers are unique to industrial NDE and do not duplicate
any existing medical tags.
9.2 The following tags are to be used to identify the
information in the Component Module and the Component
Study Module. The DICONDE practice represents the common modules that are needed for every technique, and the
following table identifies the tags that are applicable for the
common modules. The remaining tags for the data files can be
found in the DICOM standard. Any technique specific modules

8. Information Object Definitions

8.1 Information Object Definitions
3

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TABLE 1 Composite Information Object Modules Overview, DICOM with DICONDE Additions
Existing DICOM
Information Object
Definitions (IODs)
Modules

Additional DICONDE
common IODs
Modules to be
defined

CR

CT

US

US-mf

Sec. Capt

St. Over-lay

St. Curve

PatientA
Patient SummaryA
General Study
Patient studyA

Component
Component Summary

MB

Component Study

Study Descr.

St. Mod LUT

St. VOI LUT

M
M
UC

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
U

M
M

U
CD

U
C

Study Content
General Series
CR Series
NM SeriesA
Frame Of Reference
US Frame of Ref.
General Equipment
NM EquipmentA
SC Equipment
General Image
Image Plane
Image Pixel
Contrast/Bolus
Cine
Multi-frame
CR Image
CT Image
MR ImageA
NM ImageA
NM SPECTA
NM Multi-GatedA
US Region Calibration
US Image
SC Image
Overlay Identification
Overlay Plane
Multi-frame Overlay

M
M
M
C

M
M
M
C

M
CE

M
C
C
M

UE
ME

U
M

M
M

M
U

Curve Identification
Curve
Audio
Modality LUT
VOI LUT
LUT Identification

U
U

SOP Common

U
M

UE
ME
ME
U

ME
ME
U

UE

ME

M
M

ME

M
M
U
U

M
M

These IODs are typically not used for industrial NDE.

M is for Mandatory.
U is for User Option.
D
C is for Conditional.
E
Special condition for these modules. Refer to the corresponding IODs in the DICOM Annex for details.
B

for industrial NDE will have standard tags identified in the

technique specific practices.
9.3 Where possible, the existing DICOM tags are used, with
an industrial NDE meaning associated with them, as shown in
the tables below. For these cases of using the existing DICOM
tags, the tables below show joint tag numbers for both DICOM
and DICONDE. Those attributes that are industrial NDE
specific, and not mandatory requirements, will be shown as
PrivID and have Private ID tags for them. Private ID tags are
internally generated tag numbers.

format must be supplied, and the communications protocols to

achieve an actual transfer of data over some transfer medium.
The documentation of the current data configuration consists of
using the information object definitions and the associated
database element identifiers (tags) to specify the order in which
the data is generated. The conformance statement also includes
information on the transfer of data and what types of media are
to be used.
10.2 Conformance Statement
10.2.1 From the DICOM standard a conformance statement
consists of the following major parts:
10.2.1.1 an implementation model which describes the application entities in the implementation and how they relate to
both local and remote real-world activities;
10.2.1.2 a more detailed specification of each application
entity, listing the SOP classes supported and outlining the
policies with which it initiates or accepts associations;

10. Conformance
10.1 Introduction
10.1.1 The key to utilization of the DICOM/DICONDE
standardization format is the conformance statement. This
statement is the document that defines the current data configuration, the necessary configuration to which the NDE data
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TABLE 2 Component and Component Summary Module
Attribute Name

DICOM Tag

DICONDE Tag

Description

COMPONENT
COMPONENT under test
Component Site ID
Component Site Name
Component Plant ID
Component Plant Name
Component Installation ID
Component Installation Name
Component Name
Component ID Number
Component Manufacturing Date
CAD file name

0011,3000
0011,3001
0011,3010
0011,3011
0011,3020
0011,3021
0010,0010
0010,0020
0010,0030
0010,1000

CAD file format

Component Notes

ID of the Site
Name of the site where plant is located
ID of the Plant
Name of the plant where installation is located
ID of the installation/unit
Name of installation/unit
Component name + part name
Component ID + part ID
reference to CAD file or drawing
PrivID

0010,4000

Component ref. System

PrivID

Component Manufacturing procedure

PrivID

Component Owner

PrivID

Component Manufacturer

PrivID

Component
Component Manufacturer

PrivID

Component Notes

PrivID

Material
Material Name

0010,2160

Material Grade

steel, copper,
PrivID

Material Properties file ID

PrivID

Material properties file format

PrivID

Material Notes

PrivID

Material Thickness
Material Pipe Diameter
Material Isolation diameter

0011,3030
0011,3031
0011,3032

wall/material thickness in mm
diameter in mm/in.
diameter in mm/in.

VOLUME (Test point)

Volume Name

0008,1080

Exam Volume Ref System

Volume description

PrivID
0038,0300

Volume surface descript.

Volume content
Volume Notes

PrivID
0010,2180
0010,21B0

10.2.1.3 for each application entity and real-world activity

combination, a description of proposed (for association initiation) and acceptable (for association acceptance) presentation
contexts;

empty, water, gas, oil,

10.2.1.4 for each SOP class related to an abstract syntax, a

list of any SOP options supported;
10.2.1.5 a set of communications protocols which this
implementation supports;
10.2.1.6 a description of any extensions, specializations,
and publicly disclosed Privatizations in this implementation;
10.2.1.7 a section describing DICOM/DICONDE related
configuration details;

NOTE 3A presentation context consists of an abstract syntax plus a

list of acceptable transfer syntaxes. The abstract syntax identifies one SOP
class or Meta SOP class (a collection of related SOP classes identified by
a single abstract syntax UID). By listing the application entities with their
proposed and accepted presentation contexts, the conformance statement
is identifying the set of information objects and service classes, which are
recognized by this implementation.

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TABLE 3 Component Study Module
Attribute Name

DICOM Tag

DICONDE Tag

Description

COMPONENT STUDY
STUDY
Study instance UID
Study date (Date of completion)
Study time
Accession number
Examining company name
Study Description
Operator name

0020,000D
0008,0020
0008,0030
0008,0050
0008,0090
0008,1030
0008,1050

Technician Name
Examination ID name Study ID

PrivID

Technician performing the exposures of the study

0020,0010

Examination notes
Number of series in study
Report responsible
Expiry date
Private Identification code

unique study ID generated by the system

date of image processing
time of image processing ????
RIS-ID of the Study as relation between the RIS and the study
Company responsible for the examination
Examination description
operator processing the images

PrivID
0020,1000
0020,1060
0009,3020
0009,0030

name of reporter analyzing the study and performing the verification

date on which the validation expires

SERIES
Modality
Series Description
Series I UID
Series sequence Number
Exposure orientation (Laterality)
Environmental conditions
Number imgs in series
Last image of series
Image Operation Code
Actual environmental conditions

0008,0060
0008,103E
0020,000E
0020,0011
0018,5101
0011,3040
0019,1070
0019,1071
0019,1074
0021,3010

description of the Sub examination

unique series ID generated by the system
series seq. number in the study
NS, SN, EW, WE, TB, BT, NU (not used)
Isolated, non-isolated, hot, cold,
indicates that this is the last image of the series
NO= normal (default)
conditions as at exposure

through 3 describe the applications on both the image sending

and the image server devices, and the specifications required
for effective communications.
10.3.4 The exact communication protocols and computer
system configurations must be identified. Sections 4 through 7
in the Annex A1 show an example.
10.3.5 For each data file type, a composite image module
table is developed. This table cites all of the modules incorporated within the data set, the usage of the module (mandatory,
conditional or user option) and a reference location to investigate the specific tag identifiers for the data. In Annex A1, the
CR Image IOD Module Table was designed using the DICOM
standard, and does not reference the DICONDE specified
modules identified in this practice. However, the documentation is relevant to how a conformance statement is generated.
These tables contain a column titled Type. Each tag identifier
has specific data structures associated with it. They are titled
Type or Value Representation and the conformance statement defines which association is used based on the transfer
syntax that has been negotiated.
10.3.6 It is recognized that a conformance statement is not
a trivial task; however, the loss of data files over time, due to
technology changes, is irreplaceable.

10.2.1.8 a description of any implementation details that

may be related to DICOM/DICONDE conformance or interoperability.
10.2.2 A sample conformance statement is provided in
Annex A1. This is an example of a conformance statement
generated for computed radiology using only the DICOM
database.
10.3 Conformance Statement Construction
10.3.1 The conformance statement for a data file to be
transferred must include several aspects. First, each conformance statement is written with a specific data file type to be
converted to DICOM/DICONDE compatibility. By type is
meant each data acquisition device of the same version will use
the same conformance statement to archive. This will permit
the data file to be archived intact, with no loss or change in
data, and accessible at a later date.
10.3.2 The conformance statement provided in Annex A1
provides an example of the level of detail required to fully
document the data files and the transfer and communications
protocols. This is only a sample of a specific conformance
statement for computed radiology using the DICOM definitions exclusively. This example does not utilize the common
industrial NDE modules as shown in this practice, and is
provided as a model only.
10.3.3 The conformance statement provides a complete
description of the image sending and the image receiving
devices and requirements, so that adequate and complete
communication can be maintained. In Annex A1, Sections 1

11. Keywords
11.1 DICOM; DICONDE; digital data transmission; database; file format

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ANNEX
A1. SAMPLE CONFORMANCE STATEMENT FOR COMPUTED RADIOGRAPHY

A1.1 See the following pages.

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