Why Adopt DICONDE?

• Eases sharing of your inspection data, both internally and externally
• Avoids proprietary data formats, protects your software investment
• Avoids vendor tie-in, allows choice of the best vendor solutions
• Allows easy search and retrieval of historical inspection data
• Archives all testing modality data in one common, standards-based repository

Using the DCF for DICONDE Development

The use of DICOM is desired and becoming more prevalent in the Nondestructive Testing (NDT) industry and its use is becoming the emerging standard for that industry: Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE).

Implementing the DICONDE Standard for NDT Modalities

Because DICONDE is a special case of DICOM, this amounts to implementing DICOM with the DICONDE customizations. The DICOM Connectivity Framework (DCF) from Laurel Bridge Software is ideally suited for this task. Supporting multiple languages on multiple platforms, the DCF provides an easily customized framework for DICONDE implementors or integrators. The DCF provides all the network and file level support that is needed for a complete, fully-compliant DICONDE implementation.

Advantages of using the DCF

• The DCF is a robust, widely-used, commercial DICOM software development toolkit
• Supports DICONDE customizations through the use of custom data dictionaries -- standard DICOM "patient" tags can be redefined as "component" tags via addition of a simple, text-based configuration file
• Provides built-in support for converting standard image file formats into fully-compliant DICOM files (data sets)
• Provides field configurable filtering of DICOM file attributes that allows users to deal with errors or other device compatibility problems
• Provides support for all file-based and network-based DICOM SOP classes
• Provides support for all DICOM standard and compressed transfer syntaxes
• Provides for easy creation and handling of DICOM data sets, files, and DICOM part-10 compliant media (CDs, DVDs, etc.)
• Provides developers with support for multiple platforms and languages: Windows/Linux, C++/Java/C#, 32-bit/64-bit

More About DICONDE

ASTM Subcommittee E07.11 on Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) is guiding development of standards designed to provide a universally compatible image data format that allows nondestructive evaluation (NDE) manufacturers and users to share image data. ASTM's standard E‐2339 is based on the American College of Radiology (ACR)/National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) medical imaging standard: DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). DICONDE harmonizes with the DICOM standard and encompasses all NDE specific imaging methods and technologies, such as infrared thermography, ultrasound, digital and computed radiography, computed tomography, eddy current, and acoustic emission; it provides standardized acquisition, storage, reporting and communication formats for the acquired data.

DICONDE has been developed to overcome the interoperability issues that arise when archiving or analyzing the data from a variety of NDE methodologies or techniques, each using their own proprietary data acquisition and storage systems. As digital NDE technologies evolve, it is desirable that data acquired in the past shall remain decipherable, searchable and trackable. DICONDE defines a context in which all the inspection technique parameters and data are preserved in a standard format regardless of changes in digital technology, enabling the exchange of digital information between NDE imaging equipment and users in a vendor‐independent, standardized way, using open, nonproprietary formats. Laurel Bridge Software participates in the DICOM and DICONDE Standards Committees and has been providing software tools, applications, and services that support the DICOM and DICONDE standards since 1997.

Historical Background

"Historically, the NDT industry has relied on proprietary formats to store inspection data. With the volume of data collected increasing, due to the change from traditional data collection methods such as film in X-ray and paper charts in eddy current to digital storage, the need for a transparent and industry standard data format is increasing.

...

"Based on the success of the DICOM standard, a group of experts in nondestructive testing began exploiting the similarities between medical imaging equipment and industrial inspection systems in the late 1990s. Working with ASTM International, they developed the digital imaging and communications in nondestructive evaluation (DICONDE) standard based on the DICOM standard. First published in 2004 as ASTM Standard Practice E2339, the standard has undergone a series of revisions to improve its usefulness to the industry, but it is still in its infancy.

"The approach of the ASTM E07.11 subcommittee on DICONDE has been to reuse DICOM IODs, information modules and attributes where possible. For example, the patient module has been redefined to be the component module.

"Wherever possible, references to the DICOM standard are used to minimize repetitious information and the need to modify the ASTM standard every time a change takes place in the DICOM standard. The DICOM standard allows the ASTM team the flexibility to both ignore elements of the standard that do not apply to industrial imaging and to create new information modules and attributes where no reasonable medical equivalent exists. Examples of DICONDE information modules are component, component study and NDE equipment. Examples of attributes are component name, component ID and system serial number."

- excerpted from Successful Standardization, by Lloyd Arrowood, John Hansen & Patrick Howard, NDT Magazine, 2/1/2009.

ASTM Committee & Publications

Committee

ASTM Subcommittee E07.11 on Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) is developing a transparent and industry standard data format with which to store digital inspection data for the nondestructive testing industry this standard and effort is based on the DICOM standard currently in use by the medical industry. [Committee home page]

ASTM Active Standards Publications

The following standards have been published:

• For All Modalities: E2339-08, Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) -- originally published in 2004, E2339 addresses and specifies digital data transmission and storage requirements for all nondestructive evaluation modalities.
• For Ultrasonic (US) Modalities: E2663-08, Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Ultrasonic Test Methods -- is for use by manufacturers who develop ultrasonic test equipment that communicates and stores inspection data in a nonproprietary format. E2663 serves as a companion standard to E2339.
• For Computed Radiography (CR) Modalities: E2738-10, Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Computed Radiography (CR) Test Methods -- facilitates the interoperability of CR imaging equipment, specifying image data transfer and storage methods in commonly accepted DICOM terms and in a nonproprietary format. E2738 serves as a companion standard to E2339.

Additional Proposed ASTM Practices

• WK14271 - New Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Ultrasonic Test Methods
• WK17435 - Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) Test Methods
• WK17436 - Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Digital Radiographic (DR) Test Methods
• WK20537 - Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Eddy Current Test Methods
• WK22505 - Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation (DICONDE) for Computed Radiography (CR) Test Methods

[Current and additional information]