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references/common_tags.md

Common DICOM Tags Reference

This document provides a comprehensive list of commonly used DICOM tags organized by category. Tags can be accessed in pydicom using attribute notation (e.g., ds.PatientName) or tag tuple notation (e.g., ds[0x0010, 0x0010]).

Patient Information Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0010,0010) PatientName PN Patient's full name
(0010,0020) PatientID LO Primary identifier for the patient
(0010,0030) PatientBirthDate DA Date of birth (YYYYMMDD)
(0010,0032) PatientBirthTime TM Time of birth (HHMMSS)
(0010,0040) PatientSex CS Patient's sex (M, F, O)
(0010,1010) PatientAge AS Patient's age (format: nnnD/W/M/Y)
(0010,1020) PatientSize DS Patient's height in meters
(0010,1030) PatientWeight DS Patient's weight in kilograms
(0010,1040) PatientAddress LO Patient's mailing address
(0010,2160) EthnicGroup SH Ethnic group of patient
(0010,4000) PatientComments LT Additional comments about patient

Study Information Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0020,000D) StudyInstanceUID UI Unique identifier for the study
(0008,0020) StudyDate DA Date study started (YYYYMMDD)
(0008,0030) StudyTime TM Time study started (HHMMSS)
(0008,1030) StudyDescription LO Description of the study
(0020,0010) StudyID SH User or site-defined study identifier
(0008,0050) AccessionNumber SH RIS-generated study identifier
(0008,0090) ReferringPhysicianName PN Name of patient's referring physician
(0008,1060) NameOfPhysiciansReadingStudy PN Name of physician(s) reading study
(0008,1080) AdmittingDiagnosesDescription LO Diagnosis description at admission

Series Information Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0020,000E) SeriesInstanceUID UI Unique identifier for the series
(0020,0011) SeriesNumber IS Numeric identifier for this series
(0008,103E) SeriesDescription LO Description of the series
(0008,0060) Modality CS Type of equipment (CT, MR, US, etc.)
(0008,0021) SeriesDate DA Date series started (YYYYMMDD)
(0008,0031) SeriesTime TM Time series started (HHMMSS)
(0018,0015) BodyPartExamined CS Body part examined
(0018,5100) PatientPosition CS Patient position (HFS, FFS, etc.)
(0020,0060) Laterality CS Laterality of paired body part (R, L)

Image Information Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0008,0018) SOPInstanceUID UI Unique identifier for this instance
(0020,0013) InstanceNumber IS Number that identifies this image
(0008,0008) ImageType CS Image identification characteristics
(0008,0023) ContentDate DA Date of content creation (YYYYMMDD)
(0008,0033) ContentTime TM Time of content creation (HHMMSS)
(0020,0032) ImagePositionPatient DS Position of image (x, y, z) in mm
(0020,0037) ImageOrientationPatient DS Direction cosines of image rows/columns
(0020,1041) SliceLocation DS Relative position of image plane
(0018,0050) SliceThickness DS Slice thickness in mm
(0018,0088) SpacingBetweenSlices DS Spacing between slices in mm

Pixel Data Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(7FE0,0010) PixelData OB/OW Actual pixel data of the image
(0028,0010) Rows US Number of rows in image
(0028,0011) Columns US Number of columns in image
(0028,0100) BitsAllocated US Bits allocated for each pixel sample
(0028,0101) BitsStored US Bits stored for each pixel sample
(0028,0102) HighBit US Most significant bit for pixel sample
(0028,0103) PixelRepresentation US 0=unsigned, 1=signed
(0028,0002) SamplesPerPixel US Number of samples per pixel (1 or 3)
(0028,0004) PhotometricInterpretation CS Color space (MONOCHROME2, RGB, etc.)
(0028,0006) PlanarConfiguration US Color pixel data arrangement
(0028,0030) PixelSpacing DS Physical spacing [row, column] in mm
(0028,0008) NumberOfFrames IS Number of frames in multi-frame image
(0028,0034) PixelAspectRatio IS Ratio of vertical to horizontal pixel

Windowing and Display Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0028,1050) WindowCenter DS Window center for display
(0028,1051) WindowWidth DS Window width for display
(0028,1052) RescaleIntercept DS b in output = m*SV + b
(0028,1053) RescaleSlope DS m in output = m*SV + b
(0028,1054) RescaleType LO Type of rescaling (HU, etc.)
(0028,1055) WindowCenterWidthExplanation LO Explanation of window values
(0028,3010) VOILUTSequence SQ VOI LUT description

CT-Specific Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0018,0060) KVP DS Peak kilovoltage
(0018,1030) ProtocolName LO Scan protocol name
(0018,1100) ReconstructionDiameter DS Diameter of reconstruction circle
(0018,1110) DistanceSourceToDetector DS Distance in mm
(0018,1111) DistanceSourceToPatient DS Distance in mm
(0018,1120) GantryDetectorTilt DS Gantry tilt in degrees
(0018,1130) TableHeight DS Table height in mm
(0018,1150) ExposureTime IS Exposure time in ms
(0018,1151) XRayTubeCurrent IS X-ray tube current in mA
(0018,1152) Exposure IS Exposure in mAs
(0018,1160) FilterType SH X-ray filter material
(0018,1210) ConvolutionKernel SH Reconstruction algorithm

MR-Specific Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0018,0080) RepetitionTime DS TR in ms
(0018,0081) EchoTime DS TE in ms
(0018,0082) InversionTime DS TI in ms
(0018,0083) NumberOfAverages DS Number of times data was averaged
(0018,0084) ImagingFrequency DS Frequency in MHz
(0018,0085) ImagedNucleus SH Nucleus that is imaged (1H, etc.)
(0018,0086) EchoNumbers IS Echo number(s)
(0018,0087) MagneticFieldStrength DS Field strength in Tesla
(0018,0088) SpacingBetweenSlices DS Spacing in mm
(0018,0089) NumberOfPhaseEncodingSteps IS Number of encoding steps
(0018,0091) EchoTrainLength IS Number of echoes in a train
(0018,0093) PercentSampling DS Fraction of acquisition matrix sampled
(0018,0094) PercentPhaseFieldOfView DS Ratio of phase to frequency FOV
(0018,1030) ProtocolName LO Scan protocol name
(0018,1314) FlipAngle DS Flip angle in degrees

File Meta Information Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0002,0000) FileMetaInformationGroupLength UL Length of file meta information
(0002,0001) FileMetaInformationVersion OB Version of file meta information
(0002,0002) MediaStorageSOPClassUID UI SOP Class UID
(0002,0003) MediaStorageSOPInstanceUID UI SOP Instance UID
(0002,0010) TransferSyntaxUID UI Transfer syntax UID
(0002,0012) ImplementationClassUID UI Implementation class UID
(0002,0013) ImplementationVersionName SH Implementation version name

Equipment Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0008,0070) Manufacturer LO Equipment manufacturer
(0008,0080) InstitutionName LO Institution name
(0008,0081) InstitutionAddress ST Institution address
(0008,1010) StationName SH Equipment station name
(0008,1040) InstitutionalDepartmentName LO Department name
(0008,1050) PerformingPhysicianName PN Physician performing procedure
(0008,1070) OperatorsName PN Operator name(s)
(0008,1090) ManufacturerModelName LO Model name
(0018,1000) DeviceSerialNumber LO Device serial number
(0018,1020) SoftwareVersions LO Software version(s)

Timing Tags

Tag Name Type Description
(0008,0012) InstanceCreationDate DA Date instance was created
(0008,0013) InstanceCreationTime TM Time instance was created
(0008,0022) AcquisitionDate DA Date acquisition started
(0008,0032) AcquisitionTime TM Time acquisition started
(0008,002A) AcquisitionDateTime DT Acquisition date and time

DICOM Value Representations (VR)

Common value representation types used in DICOM:

  • AE: Application Entity (max 16 chars)
  • AS: Age String (nnnD/W/M/Y)
  • CS: Code String (max 16 chars)
  • DA: Date (YYYYMMDD)
  • DS: Decimal String
  • DT: Date Time (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.FFFFFF&ZZXX)
  • IS: Integer String
  • LO: Long String (max 64 chars)
  • LT: Long Text (max 10240 chars)
  • PN: Person Name
  • SH: Short String (max 16 chars)
  • SQ: Sequence of Items
  • ST: Short Text (max 1024 chars)
  • TM: Time (HHMMSS.FFFFFF)
  • UI: Unique Identifier (UID)
  • UL: Unsigned Long (4 bytes)
  • US: Unsigned Short (2 bytes)
  • OB: Other Byte String
  • OW: Other Word String

Usage Examples

Accessing Tags by Name

patient_name = ds.PatientName
study_date = ds.StudyDate
modality = ds.Modality

Accessing Tags by Number

patient_name = ds[0x0010, 0x0010].value
study_date = ds[0x0008, 0x0020].value
modality = ds[0x0008, 0x0060].value

Checking if Tag Exists

if hasattr(ds, 'PatientName'):
    print(ds.PatientName)

# Or using 'in' operator
if (0x0010, 0x0010) in ds:
    print(ds[0x0010, 0x0010].value)

Safe Access with Default Value

patient_name = getattr(ds, 'PatientName', 'Unknown')
study_desc = ds.get('StudyDescription', 'No description')

References

  • DICOM Standard: https://www.dicomstandard.org/
  • DICOM Tag Browser: https://dicom.innolitics.com/ciods
  • Pydicom Documentation: https://pydicom.github.io/pydicom/
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