Top 25 Free Dicom Viewers for Doctors, Medical Students, and Health Professionals

What is DICOM?

DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) is a standard format that enables medical professionals to view, store, and share medical images irrespective of their geographic location or the devices they use, as long as those devices support the format. DICOM images need to be viewed through specific software called DICOM viewers that can read and display the format. The images, along with the corresponding patient data, are often stored in a large database called the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). The purpose of a DICOM application is to store information in the PACS about the imaging examination, along with patient details, and then when required, to view and interpret (and possibly edit) medical images that are retrieved from the PACS. DICOM images are unique in the fact that they contain patient information in addition to the image data.

There is actually no dearth of DICOM viewing software out there. Search online and you will find a multitude of options—some freeware, some paid, some targeted at medical students, others at seasoned experts, each with different specifications, systems requirements, add-ons, and capabilities. As a classic case of the paradox of choice, the abundance merely makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to choose the software that would be the best fit for their requirements. This is our endeavor in this article, to make the decision easier for you by presenting some popular viewers with useful features and very affordable pricing plans. In fact, most of them are free for basic use.

DICOM viewers are often developed with a focus on one or more of the following functions:

• Simple viewing of medical images

• Teaching

• Mini-PACS servers

• Research

For instance, some software are meant only for basic viewing. Therefore, they do not have any additional features such as sharing or storage. Some applications have the ability to export data as JPEG or GIF files, which can be used in teaching and presentations. DICOM software for clinics can store images to a certain extent on mini-PACS servers. Some software also offer advanced features, like anonymization, which is particularly useful when conducting clinical research.

How to Choose a DICOM Viewer?

From the standpoint of doctors, medical students, and clinicians, the following points should be kept in mind when looking for a DICOM viewer:

• What’s your main intended use for the software?

• If you are a medical student, you may just be looking for a way to view and study clinical images. A full-fledged radiologist, on the other hand, would need high-speed software with specialized plug-ins and structured reporting. Furthermore, certain applications may be best suited to view images from specific body regions.

• What’s your operating system?

• Is it Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux-based? You might want to keep in mind that many viewers are designed to run on either Windows or Mac, but not both. Therefore, when deciding on an option, make sure that it runs on different operating systems, and if not, then at least on the one that you most frequently use.

• Do you use multiple devices?

• Most doctors and students today use not only their desktops, but also laptops, tablets, and smartphones interchangeably. The ideal DICOM application would allow access to the same data from multiple devices with convenience. You want a viewer that you can access from any device, any time.

• What added features are you looking for?

• Most DICOM applications today read common imaging modalities like CT, MRI, and ultrasound images. Features such as multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), particularly 3D reconstruction, are needed for treatment planning. Volume rendering, maximum and minimum intensity projections (MIPs) aid in diagnosis as well as in research. Image fusion, such as PET to CTs or PET to MRIs can also help in diagnosis and reporting.

• What about PACS integration and data storage?

• The DICOM software must integrate with a PACS server that offers enough space to store an adequate volume of images along with patient data. The PACS server might be located in an institution, in which case the application must integrate to it directly, or it can be a cloud-based PACS system, which can be accessed online from anywhere. The latter is especially useful when images need to be stored and analyzed for research purposes.

Keeping the above purposes in mind, and allowing for ease of use and installation by end users themselves, we have compiled the following list that includes the most convenient, useful, and affordable DICOM viewers out there:

The Top 25 Best Free DICOM Viewers

1. PostDICOM

PostDICOM is one of the best DICOM viewers that offers almost all of the above features. It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It can be operated from android devices and iOS-based systems. PostDICOM comes with a cloud-based PACS, which allows you to access data from any device, anywhere, at any time. The viewer allows advanced image manipulation, such as 3D reconstruction, 3D volume rendering and MIP, and image fusion. It also offers an interface for creating reports, sharing files, and immediate uploading of all patient data to the cloud PACS.

The cloud-based PACS is unique to this software and offers several advantages. It allows researchers to upload relevant images on the PACS server for viewing, processing, and analyzing at various stages during the course of their clinical research. This ensures complete data integration and a smooth workflow.

Although paid subscriptions are available, the free trial version itself has several premium features. The cloud PACS offers free trial to its paid subscriptions, shares a month, and one or more user logins. These can be increased with different paid subscriptions. PostDICOM offers technical support for the free.

2. Horos

Horos is an open source DICOM viewer for Mac. It is actually the free version of an expensive DICOM viewer called Osirix MD, which is often considered to be the best DICOM viewer for Mac. It only runs on Mac OS, version 10.8 or higher. This software allows for most diagnostic techniques, including multiplanar reconstruction, maximum intensity projections, and volume rendering. It also has tools for manipulating images and making measurements.

One of the unique features of Horos is that it has a plug-in that allows uploading of images to Radiopedia, an online resource with a large number of reference cases and articles. Technical support is available through both phone and email. Horos, however, does not integrate to PACS free of cost. Cloud-based storage is available at an additional cost.

A free version of Osirix MD, called Osirix Lite, is also available to users. However, it does not allowing editing of imaging metadata, and image modifications come with a watermark. While this is good to get a feel for the parent software, it is not intended for regular medical use.

3. RadiAnt

The RadiAnt DICOM image viewer is a simple, fast platform that is compatible with Windows. It offers multiple features, including MPR, MIP, and image fusion. Images can be exported to JPEG, PNG, and other image formats. They can also be copy-pasted directly to presentations and word documents.

The application is just a viewer and does not offer storage space. Their website has a disclaimer explicitly stating that they do not have any certifications, and as such, the product is not intended for diagnostic use. However, it is handy for students and residents for studying medical images and research purposes.

4. Navegatium

The Navegatium DICOM viewer has been designed especially for touchscreen computers and tablets, and when used on these devices can be very fast and simple to use. It offers MPR, MIP, and simulated reconstructions. The layout and views can be customized as per user preferences. It can be directly integrated with PACS, but does not offer storage, importing and sharing.

It may be slightly awkward to use without a touchscreen. This application only runs on higher versions of Windows. It lacks advanced features, but is useful for basic use.

5. Pro Surgical 3D

The Pro Surgical 3D application (from the Stratovan Group) is mainly targeted at surgeons, for surgical planning using their high quality 3D reconstruction feature. However, anyone can use this application to read and understand scans. It has the capacity to anonymize and de-identify patient details in scans, which is a must when the images are used in research, presentations or publications. They have an integrated customer support portal to aid in usage. The application also provides access to the Navegatium Knowledge Base—a comprehensive digital library of medical images.

Some drawbacks are that it occupies a lot of hard disk space, requires an advanced version of Windows (at least Windows 8.1 or 10) and high-speed RAM.

Comparison Table of the top 25 Dicom Viewer Software

To help you choose the right application for your needs from this assortment of feature-packed yet affordable DICOM viewers, we’ve created a table that summarizes the essential features of each software:

*Y = yes, N = no, and N.A. = not applicable.