Step-by-Step: View DICOM Medical Images on Your Android Device

Have you ever received a CD of medical images after a scan or procedure and wanted to view them on your phone?

DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) is the universal format for medical images and related data.

With the right Android app, you can access, analyze, and share DICOM files on the go. In this article, we’ll cover step-by-step how to use a free DICOM viewer Android.

Why View DICOM Files on Android

Mobile devices like Android phones and tablets offer significant advantages for medical image viewing over bulky workstations. Benefits include:

• Portability – Bring images anywhere without carrying films or disks
• Zoom and Pan – Magnify images and navigate scans intuitively with touch gestures
• Share Images – Instantly transfer images to colleagues and patients

Additionally, DICOM files contain important metadata like patient and study data. Viewing the source DICOM preserves this information, whereas formats like JPEG may lose valuable data.

Step 1: Install a DICOM Viewer App

The first step is to install a specialized DICOM app from the Google Play Store. There are both free and paid options available. We recommend:

• MicroDicom Viewer – Full-featured free viewer for DICOM images and data
• RadiAnt DICOM Viewer – Intuitive paid app with advanced visualization tools

For this guide, we will demonstrate MicroDicom Viewer as it is free. Search for “MicroDicom Viewer” in the Play Store and install the app. Registration is optional.

Step 2: Transfer DICOM Files to Your Device

Next, we need to transfer DICOM images or datasets to the device. There are a few options to choose from:

Transfer from CD/DVD

• Insert the disk into a computer and copy files to device storage over USB
• Use a cloud storage service like Dropbox to upload and sync files

Transfer from Network

• Many medical imaging devices and archives support sending DICOM files over a network
• Use the device’s network file transfer capabilities

Import from SD Card

• DICOM files may be saved directly to an SD card you can insert into your Android device

For this guide, we will transfer a DICOM sample file included with the MicroDicom Viewer app for demonstration purposes.

Step 3: Open Files in MicroDicom

1. Open the MicroDicom Viewer app on your Android device
2. Select Import sample DICOM file to transfer a demo file included in the app
3. Tap the file to open it

You should now see a sample DICOM image loaded into the viewer.

Step 4: Analyze and Modify the Image

MicroDicom and other DICOM apps provide tools to visualize and modify medical images. Common options include:

• PAN and ZOOM – Touch gestures to magnify and navigate 2D image slices
• WINDOWING – Brightness/contrast adjustment to optimize different tissue visualizations
• MULTI-PLANAR RECONSTRUCTION – Manipulate 3D renderings with swipe gestures
• MEASUREMENTS – Calculate distance, angles, mean pixel values within a region of interest
• ANNOTATIONS – Draw or type labels on the image for reference

Under Image Properties, technical DICOM data like patient name, study date, image dimensions, pixel spacing, and more are also viewable.

Test out any features that interest you! Zooming, brightness adjustment, and annotations are good starting points.

Step 5: Export or Share Images

Analyze images across multiple sessions or collaborate with other physicians by exporting enhanced visualizations:

• Email or text message images directly to colleagues or patients from the app
• Save enhanced images to the Android picture gallery in formats like JPEG, PNG, or DICOM for archiving
• Export studies to PACS (Picture Archiving & Communication System) to make available on a medical network

And that covers the basics of accessing, customizing, analyzing, and sharing DICOM medical images on an Android mobile device!

Summary

• Install a dedicated DICOM viewer app on Android, like MicroDicom
• Import DICOM files from a CD, network source, or SD card
• Open studies and utilize tools like windowing, zoom/pan, MPR, and measurements
• Annotate and export images to collaborate with colleagues and patients

Now you can ditch the bulky viewers and film boxes – view and share medical imaging anywhere using just your Android smartphone or tablet as a DICOM viewer!