Which standard governs the formatting and exchange of digital medical images?

• A. DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine)
• B. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
• C. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
• D. BMP (Bitmap)

Answer: (A)

Interoperability and consistent exchange of medical images rely on a framework that combines image data with structured patient and study information and defines how those images move between devices and systems. DICOM is built for this purpose. It specifies the file format that packages the image along with a header containing patient demographics, study identifiers, and acquisition parameters, and it also outlines the network protocols used to send, store, and retrieve images within systems like PACS. This ensures images from different manufacturers can be read correctly and linked to the right patient and study across the clinical workflow. General image formats like JPEG, TIFF, and BMP are not designed to carry standardized medical metadata or to support healthcare-specific exchange protocols, so they aren’t suitable as the governing standard for medical image exchange.