Evaluating a Row-Store Data Model for Full-Content DICOM Management

Abstract

The management of data acquired in a daily basis, together with historical data kept available during variable time frames, became a practical concern to the healthcare practice. Data organized according to the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard contribute to this scenario, demanding solutions for storage and retrieval of metadata and images that lie beyond the customary file system approach. As a way of experimentation, this work defines and implements a data model using a NoSQL, row-store database, aiming to evaluate its suitability on managing DICOM content at tag level, as well as its performance when compared to a commonly approach based on a relational schema. The obtained results attest the capacity of the proposed model in storing full-content DICOM images, using tags as data units. In terms of performance, however, the data model is outperformed by the relational approach.