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Frequently Asked Questions

What types of medical images can I view on this site?

You can view MRIs, CTs (also know as CAT Scans), PET scans, regular projection X-rays, and other less common types of medical scans on this site. Please let us know if you have any difficulties viewing your images—we would be happy to help.

When I upload an image, all I see is completely white or black. What's going on?

The contrast or brightness in the DICOM image is likely very high, such that all of the pixels are all white. If you click and hold the mouse in the image and then move the cursor to the right and up, you should start to see something. See this page for more details about how this works in DICOM viewers. We realize this is not non-obvious; we made the free site to people view their scans, but haven’t had time to improve it much or make it more obvious.

How can I get copies of my medical images?

You can request them from the imaging center where they were taken. Usually, you will need to pay a small fee, upon which they will give you a CD or flash drive containing your scans.

Why would I want to have copies of my medical images?

It is a good idea to keep copies of your medical scans so that you can:

What is DICOM?

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the standard for the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. Nearly all medical equipment throughout the world stores and transfers medical images according to the DICOM standard. Medical images saved according to the DICOM standard are usually referred to as "DICOM files". 3D images, such as MRIs and CTs, are usually saved as a series of DICOM files, while 2D images such as projection radiographs, are saved as a single DICOM file.

How do I know you are respecting my privacy?

DICOM files contain a variety of meta data, including possibly the patient's name, birth date, sex and other sensitive information. You can see our privacy policy for more details, however, we never send the images or any DICOM metadata to outside of your computer, except the DICOM file's "modality". The "modality" indicates which type of image you uploaded (e.g. MRI, CT, X-ray, PET).

We also collect anonymous information about how you interact with this website. We use this information to improve this site and to understand the types of users who are visiting it.

I can't figure out how to load my images, what should I do?

We are unable to provide support for this tool. If you run into difficulties, you may have better luck using the Radiant viewer.