Using DICOMweb™ Standard APIs with C#

DICOMweb™ is a web-based communication standard that allows for the exchange of medical images and related information in a standardized format. DICOMweb™ APIs provide a set of RESTful web services that can be used to query, retrieve, and manage medical images and related data.

To use DICOMweb™ Standard APIs with C#, you can use a variety of libraries available in the .NET framework. Here is an example of how to use the DICOMweb™ Standard APIs to retrieve a DICOM image using C#:

1. Add the required packages:

Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client
Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json

Create a client instance:

var client = new HttpClient();
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://localhost:8080/dicom-web/");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(
    new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

Build the request URI:

var studyInstanceUid = "1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9";
var seriesInstanceUid = "2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9";
var sopInstanceUid = "3.4.5.6.7.8.9";
var uri = $"studies/{studyInstanceUid}/series/{seriesInstanceUid}/instances/{sopInstanceUid}/rendered";

Send the GET request:

var response = await client.GetAsync(uri);

Retrieve the response content:

var content = await response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();

This example retrieves a rendered DICOM image specified by the Study Instance UID, Series Instance UID, and SOP Instance UID. Note that the BaseAddress should be set to the root URL of the DICOMweb™ server, and the Accept header should be set to “application/json”.

DICOMweb™ Standard APIs also support other operations, such as querying for metadata and retrieving DICOM instances in bulk. To perform these operations, you can use the same HttpClient instance and build the appropriate request URI for each operation.

It’s also worth noting that there are several third-party libraries available that provide higher-level abstractions for working with DICOMweb™ Standard APIs, such as fo-dicom and ClearCanvas. These libraries can simplify the process of working with DICOMweb™ Standard APIs and provide additional features such as DICOM file parsing and DICOM network communication.