Extraction of DICOM Metadata for Partitioning

Oracle Multimedia enables the extraction of DICOM metadata outside the database by a client tool or in the middle tier. This feature enables the extraction of DICOM

metadata before the data is loaded into the database, facilitating metadata-based partitioning of DICOM data in the database.

Partitioning supports very large tables and indexes by enabling you to reorganize them into smaller and, thus more usable, chunks called partitions. Partitioning can make your data more available, easier to manage, and faster to query.

You can include DICOM metadata attributes in the partition key, a set of one or more columns that determines the partition in which each row in a partitioned table is stored. To ensure that data is stored in the correct partition, you must provide values for the partition key when the data is loaded.

Oracle Multimedia DICOM includes the Oracle Multimedia Mid-Tier Java API. This client application programming interface for the middle tier enables developers to write Java applications to extract DICOM metadata outside of Oracle Database. This API enables the extraction of DICOM attributes that constitute the partition key before the data is loaded into the database.

See Oracle Multimedia Mid-Tier Java API Reference for complete reference information about this feature. See Oracle Database Concepts and Oracle Database VLDB and Partitioning Guide for more information about partitioning.

3

3

Overview of DICOM Development

This chapter briefly describes developer and administrator tasks that are related to developing applications using Oracle Multimedia DICOM.

Because Oracle Multimedia DICOM is fully functional after installing Oracle Multimedia, developers can begin writing applications immediately using these application programming interfaces (APIs):

■ ORDDicom object API

■ DICOM data model utility API

■ DICOM relational API

■ DICOM Java API

Administrators can assist developers by inserting or deleting configuration documents from the data model repository. To accomplish these tasks, administrators can use the ORD_DICOM_ADMIN data model repository API.

Oracle Multimedia DICOM provides capabilities for several operations related to DICOM content. For example, administrators can review the Oracle-defined configuration documents in the DICOM data model repository before determining whether to add user-defined documents for their environment. Using information views or invoking data model utility functions, administrators can obtain attributes and other detailed information about these configuration documents. Users can also work directly with the DICOM content, metadata attributes, and other objects to perform various operations.

This chapter includes these sections:

■ Loading the Repository on page 3-3

■ Accessing Information About Documents in the Repository on page 3-3

■ Loading DICOM Content on page 3-4

■ Extracting DICOM Metadata on page 3-4

■ Searching and Retrieving DICOM Attributes on page 3-6

■ Writing and Editing DICOM Metadata on page 3-6

■ Processing, Converting, and Compressing DICOM Image Data on page 3-7

■ Creating DICOM Content from Secondary Capture Images and Video on page 3-8

■ Validating Conformance with DICOM Constraints on page 3-8

■ Protecting Private Patient Data on page 3-10

■ Improving Storage and Performance When Extracting DICOM Attributes on page 3-12

Table 3–1 provides cross-references to various locations within the Oracle Multimedia documentation set where you can access additional information about topics

mentioned in this chapter.

After installation, each database includes a set of default configuration documents in the Oracle Multimedia DICOM data model repository. See Table 2–1 for a list of these documents.

After installation, administrators can add configuration documents that are specific to a particular organization for the following types of documents:

■ Anonymity documents - XML documents that can be used to specify the set of attributes to be made anonymous and the actions to be taken to make those attributes anonymous.

■ Constraint documents - XML documents that define a collection of rules, including the relationships and semantic constraints of attributes not expressed by the DICOM metadata schema, to validate the conformance of DICOM content with the DICOM standard.

■ Mapping documents - XML documents that define how each attribute maps to a particular element in an XML metadata document, and determines the structure of DICOM metadata documents.

Table 3–1 Additional References for Users

Topic More Information

Reference information for public information views

Chapter 4

Reference information for administrator information views

Chapter 10

Reference information for the DICOM data model utility API

Chapter 4

Reference information for the ORDDicom object API

Chapter 5

Reference information for the DICOM relational API

Chapter 6

Reference information for the

ORD_DICOM_ADMIN data model repository API

Chapter 10

Reference information for the DICOM Java API

Oracle Multimedia DICOM Java API Reference

Reference information for the Mid-Tier Java API

Oracle Multimedia Mid-Tier Java API Reference

Examples of operations on DICOM content Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 Examples of administrative operations in the

data model repository

Chapter 11

Information about writing configuration documents

Chapter 12 Listings of the DICOM XML schemas Appendix B

Accessing Information About Documents in the Repository

■ Preference documents - XML documents that define run-time parameters, such as turning the logging of warning messages on or off or specifying categories of error messages.

■ Private dictionary documents - XML documents that can be used to extend the standard dictionary document definitions.

■ Standard dictionary documents - XML documents that can be used to reflect updates to the DICOM standard.

■ Stored tag list documents - Optional XML documents that specify the DICOM attributes to be extracted from the embedded DICOM content and stored in the XML metadata attribute of the ORDDicom object when the setProperties( ) method is called.

■ UID definition documents - XML documents that list the unique identifiers (UIDs) defined by the DICOM standard.

See Appendix A and Chapter 12 for more information about these documents.

See Part III, "DICOM Administration" for more information about managing configuration documents in the DICOM repository.