DICONDE
(Digital Imaging and Communication in Non-Destructive Evaluation)

DICONDE is a standard adopted by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) that provides a format for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) manufacturers and its customers to share image data. It is based on the American College of Radiology (ACR)/National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standard, DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). The DICONDE standard encompasses all NDE specific imaging methods and technologies, such as computed radiography, eddy current, ultrasound, computed tomography, etc….

Before we go further with DICONDE, it’s good to know a little history of DICOM and how DICONDE was derived. In 1985, the ACR and NEMA published a standard which addressed the issue of vendor-independent data formats and communication protocols for medical images. A revised version of this standard was published in 1988 and recently ACR and NEMA have completed the third version of the standard which is named DICOM v3.0. This version was demonstrated at RSNA (Radiology Society of North America) in 1993 and was voted and passed by members of NEMA in late 1993. 

DICOM provides many benefits for the medical industry, many of which also apply to NDE. First, it created a standardized terminology and framework for permitting the transfer of digital medical images and information in a multi-vendor environment. Second, it allows physicians to have better access to images and reports from potentially anywhere in the world, which in turn, allows them to make faster diagnosis and better server their patients. And finally, patients further benefit when their data easily flows through the healthcare provider’s network or when the patient is referred to another physician and their data can be easily read.

For more information on DICOM, you can vist http://DICOM.nema.org

What is DICONDE?

DICONDE is an extension of the DICOM international standard and benefits from its years of development. The ASTM standard (ASTM E-2339 “Standard Practice for Digital Imaging and Communication in Nondestructive Evaluation”) was established in 2004. According to ASTM DICONE is:

  • A dictionary that describes all the necessary syntax, attributes and data elements for users to acquire, store, archive, transmit and receive image data in a way that is universally compatible.
  • A universally available image data viewer, permitting pervasive and ubiquitous image data display.
  • A system that describes destinations where images may be stored.
  • A database, allowing users to subsequently search for image data, using a variety of criteria.
  • A method of communication, exploiting commonly employed networking protocol in a way that allows users to transmit and receive data through networks and the Internet.
  • A system that describes how to use optical media to archive image data (CD-read only, CD-read/write, DVD, DVD-R/W, magneto optical).
  • A multi-faceted file format that allows users to include reports in a variety of formats (such as a word processing document or a recording of a person’s voice).

What does these mean to NDE users? It it’s simplest form, it means if your NDE software is truly DICONDE compliant, you will benefit by:

  • Protecting your software investment by avoiding proprietary data formats
  • Easily sharing your inspection data with internal inspectors and even customers
  • Search capability that allows you quickly and simply find your historical inspection data
  • Flexibility to choose “best of breed” NDE components from multiple vendors with no integration issues
  • Archive multiple modalities from multiple inspection equipments vendors in one solution

For more information on DICONDE, you can visit http://www.astm.org