Data coercion rules


 

Data coercion rules inserts and modifies values in specific DICOM fields the modality may not have included. Coercion works for DICOM alpha-numeric attributes only. Three modes are supported:

 

Overwrite: overwrite a DICOM attribute with a defined value

Assign: assign a DICOM attribute value to another DICOM attribute

Parse: parse the contents of one DICOM attribute and assign part of it to another DICOM attribute.

 

Coercion rules are assigned to a specific registered device, and applied to all DICOM C-STORE messages arriving from that device. Multiple rules can exist for a single device, and are applied in the defined sequence. For example, if the admin wants to swap two values, he must define a three-step process: assign the value from one attribute to a temporary attribute, copy the value from the second attribute to the first attribute, and then copy the value in the temporary attribute to the second attribute.

 

To define coercion rules, go to the Devices page and click on the edit button, , of the device in the Devices table.  At the bottom of the DICOM Services page, the format of each rule is explained in the legend.  If you need the DICOM tag for a particular attribute, select it from the pull-down menu and click on Add Tag.  If the attribute is not available, enter it directly into the text box.  Complete the rule by typing the rest of the command.  When you have completed all the rules, click on Save.  

 

Note: data coercion rules do not propagate between servers.  If they are required on multiple eRAD PACS servers, you must make the change on each one.