The DICOM files consist of a header with standardized as well as free-form fields and a body of image data.
A single DICOM file can contain one or more images, allowing storage of volumes and/or animations.
Image data can be compressed using a variety of standards, including JPEG, LZW and Run-length
encoding (RLE). DICOM differs from other data formats in that it groups information together into a data
set. That is, an X-Ray of your chest is in the same file as your patient ID, so that the image is never
mistakenly separated from your information.
The image part of the DICOM file
A dicom file can contain one or more color or grayscale images, compressed or not.
The header part of the DICOM file
A dicom file has a header that contains fields with patient demographic data, details about image like width, height, color depth etc., and the conditions under which the images has been taken.
