How to read DICOM Image files in Java

In this post, I will be showing you how to read DICOM image files in Java.

ImageIO does not support DICOM file types by default so you will need to use an ImageIO plugin or an external library. I will demonstrate using an Open source ImageIO plugin called TwelveMonkeys (which extends ImageIO to provide DICOM reading support), and using the JDeli Image Library.

How to read a DICOM image in Java with ImageIO

1. Download dcm4che plugin and install it.
2. Create a File handle, InputStream or URL pointing to the raw DICOM image.
3. ImageIO will now be able to read a DICOM file into a BufferedImage. This syntax is like so:

   BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(dicomFileOrInputStreamOrURL)

How to read a DICOM image in Java with JDeli

1. Add JDeli to your class or module path. (download the trial jar).
2. Create a File handle, InputStream pointing to the raw DICOM image. You can also use a byte[] containing the image data.
3. Read the DICOM image into a BufferedImage

   BufferedImage image = JDeli.read(dicomFile);

Why do developers choose JDeli over free alternatives?

1. Works with newer image formats such as AVIF, HEIC, JPEG XL, WEBP (AVIF next release) that are not supported in Java.
2. Better support than alternatives for JPEG, PNG, TIFF.
3. Process images up to 3x faster than ImageIO and other Java image libraries.
4. Prevent JVM crashes caused by native code in other image libraries such as ImageIO.
5. Image security as JDeli processes images on your servers with no calls to any external system or third party library.

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(dicomImageFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(heicImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "heic", outputStreamOrFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(jpegImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "jpeg", outputStreamOrFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(jpeg2000ImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "jpx", outputStreamOrFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "pdf", outputStreamOrFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(pngImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "png", outputStreamOrFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(tiffImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "tiff", outputStreamOrFile);

// Read an image
BufferedImage bufferedImage = JDeli.read(webpImageFile);

// Write an image
JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "webp", outputStreamOrFile);