DICOM Storage Service

The DICOM Storage Service consists of several Storage SOP classes, which are defined by their ability to exchange what are known as composite objects (and of those composite objects, images are clearly the most common and well-known). One might also exchange an object that does not have pixel data, but rather text and codes, such as Structured Reports, DICOM Waveforms, or perhaps, even a one=bit on-off scanned text bitmap, like those used for the new Secondary Capture (SC) object. In addition, specialized objects such as those used for Radiation therapy, are defined as well and contain dose maps, plans, etc.

Composite objects can be thought of as consisting of multiple components that have not only pixel data, but also patient, study, and equipment information. The specific Storage SOP Class is negotiated between the SCU and SCP, and if its specific support is acknowledged and confirmed by the SCP, the SCU will send the images corresponding to that SOP Class with the C_Store command