1---2name: common-dicom-tags-reference3description: This document provides a comprehensive list of commonly used DICOM tags organized by category.4---5# Common DICOM Tags Reference67This 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]`).89## Patient Information Tags1011| Tag | Name | Type | Description |12|-----|------|------|-------------|13| (0010,0010) | PatientName | PN | Patient's full name |14| (0010,0020) | PatientID | LO | Primary identifier for the patient |15| (0010,0030) | PatientBirthDate | DA | Date of birth (YYYYMMDD) |16| (0010,0032) | PatientBirthTime | TM | Time of birth (HHMMSS) |17| (0010,0040) | PatientSex | CS | Patient's sex (M, F, O) |18| (0010,1010) | PatientAge | AS | Patient's age (format: nnnD/W/M/Y) |19| (0010,1020) | PatientSize | DS | Patient's height in meters |20| (0010,1030) | PatientWeight | DS | Patient's weight in kilograms |21| (0010,1040) | PatientAddress | LO | Patient's mailing address |22| (0010,2160) | EthnicGroup | SH | Ethnic group of patient |23| (0010,4000) | PatientComments | LT | Additional comments about patient |2425## Study Information Tags2627| Tag | Name | Type | Description |28|-----|------|------|-------------|29| (0020,000D) | StudyInstanceUID | UI | Unique identifier for the study |30| (0008,0020) | StudyDate | DA | Date study started (YYYYMMDD) |31| (0008,0030) | StudyTime | TM | Time study started (HHMMSS) |32| (0008,1030) | StudyDescription | LO | Description of the study |33| (0020,0010) | StudyID | SH | User or site-defined study identifier |34| (0008,0050) | AccessionNumber | SH | RIS-generated study identifier |35| (0008,0090) | ReferringPhysicianName | PN | Name of patient's referring physician |36| (0008,1060) | NameOfPhysiciansReadingStudy | PN | Name of physician(s) reading study |37| (0008,1080) | AdmittingDiagnosesDescription | LO | Diagnosis description at admission |3839## Series Information Tags4041| Tag | Name | Type | Description |42|-----|------|------|-------------|43| (0020,000E) | SeriesInstanceUID | UI | Unique identifier for the series |44| (0020,0011) | SeriesNumber | IS | Numeric identifier for this series |45| (0008,103E) | SeriesDescription | LO | Description of the series |46| (0008,0060) | Modality | CS | Type of equipment (CT, MR, US, etc.) |47| (0008,0021) | SeriesDate | DA | Date series started (YYYYMMDD) |48| (0008,0031) | SeriesTime | TM | Time series started (HHMMSS) |49| (0018,0015) | BodyPartExamined | CS | Body part examined |50| (0018,5100) | PatientPosition | CS | Patient position (HFS, FFS, etc.) |51| (0020,0060) | Laterality | CS | Laterality of paired body part (R, L) |5253## Image Information Tags5455| Tag | Name | Type | Description |56|-----|------|------|-------------|57| (0008,0018) | SOPInstanceUID | UI | Unique identifier for this instance |58| (0020,0013) | InstanceNumber | IS | Number that identifies this image |59| (0008,0008) | ImageType | CS | Image identification characteristics |60| (0008,0023) | ContentDate | DA | Date of content creation (YYYYMMDD) |61| (0008,0033) | ContentTime | TM | Time of content creation (HHMMSS) |62| (0020,0032) | ImagePositionPatient | DS | Position of image (x, y, z) in mm |63| (0020,0037) | ImageOrientationPatient | DS | Direction cosines of image rows/columns |64| (0020,1041) | SliceLocation | DS | Relative position of image plane |65| (0018,0050) | SliceThickness | DS | Slice thickness in mm |66| (0018,0088) | SpacingBetweenSlices | DS | Spacing between slices in mm |6768## Pixel Data Tags6970| Tag | Name | Type | Description |71|-----|------|------|-------------|72| (7FE0,0010) | PixelData | OB/OW | Actual pixel data of the image |73| (0028,0010) | Rows | US | Number of rows in image |74| (0028,0011) | Columns | US | Number of columns in image |75| (0028,0100) | BitsAllocated | US | Bits allocated for each pixel sample |76| (0028,0101) | BitsStored | US | Bits stored for each pixel sample |77| (0028,0102) | HighBit | US | Most significant bit for pixel sample |78| (0028,0103) | PixelRepresentation | US | 0=unsigned, 1=signed |79| (0028,0002) | SamplesPerPixel | US | Number of samples per pixel (1 or 3) |80| (0028,0004) | PhotometricInterpretation | CS | Color space (MONOCHROME2, RGB, etc.) |81| (0028,0006) | PlanarConfiguration | US | Color pixel data arrangement |82| (0028,0030) | PixelSpacing | DS | Physical spacing [row, column] in mm |83| (0028,0008) | NumberOfFrames | IS | Number of frames in multi-frame image |84| (0028,0034) | PixelAspectRatio | IS | Ratio of vertical to horizontal pixel |8586## Windowing and Display Tags8788| Tag | Name | Type | Description |89|-----|------|------|-------------|90| (0028,1050) | WindowCenter | DS | Window center for display |91| (0028,1051) | WindowWidth | DS | Window width for display |92| (0028,1052) | RescaleIntercept | DS | b in output = m*SV + b |93| (0028,1053) | RescaleSlope | DS | m in output = m*SV + b |94| (0028,1054) | RescaleType | LO | Type of rescaling (HU, etc.) |95| (0028,1055) | WindowCenterWidthExplanation | LO | Explanation of window values |96| (0028,3010) | VOILUTSequence | SQ | VOI LUT description |9798## CT-Specific Tags99100| Tag | Name | Type | Description |101|-----|------|------|-------------|102| (0018,0060) | KVP | DS | Peak kilovoltage |103| (0018,1030) | ProtocolName | LO | Scan protocol name |104| (0018,1100) | ReconstructionDiameter | DS | Diameter of reconstruction circle |105| (0018,1110) | DistanceSourceToDetector | DS | Distance in mm |106| (0018,1111) | DistanceSourceToPatient | DS | Distance in mm |107| (0018,1120) | GantryDetectorTilt | DS | Gantry tilt in degrees |108| (0018,1130) | TableHeight | DS | Table height in mm |109| (0018,1150) | ExposureTime | IS | Exposure time in ms |110| (0018,1151) | XRayTubeCurrent | IS | X-ray tube current in mA |111| (0018,1152) | Exposure | IS | Exposure in mAs |112| (0018,1160) | FilterType | SH | X-ray filter material |113| (0018,1210) | ConvolutionKernel | SH | Reconstruction algorithm |114115## MR-Specific Tags116117| Tag | Name | Type | Description |118|-----|------|------|-------------|119| (0018,0080) | RepetitionTime | DS | TR in ms |120| (0018,0081) | EchoTime | DS | TE in ms |121| (0018,0082) | InversionTime | DS | TI in ms |122| (0018,0083) | NumberOfAverages | DS | Number of times data was averaged |123| (0018,0084) | ImagingFrequency | DS | Frequency in MHz |124| (0018,0085) | ImagedNucleus | SH | Nucleus that is imaged (1H, etc.) |125| (0018,0086) | EchoNumbers | IS | Echo number(s) |126| (0018,0087) | MagneticFieldStrength | DS | Field strength in Tesla |127| (0018,0088) | SpacingBetweenSlices | DS | Spacing in mm |128| (0018,0089) | NumberOfPhaseEncodingSteps | IS | Number of encoding steps |129| (0018,0091) | EchoTrainLength | IS | Number of echoes in a train |130| (0018,0093) | PercentSampling | DS | Fraction of acquisition matrix sampled |131| (0018,0094) | PercentPhaseFieldOfView | DS | Ratio of phase to frequency FOV |132| (0018,1030) | ProtocolName | LO | Scan protocol name |133| (0018,1314) | FlipAngle | DS | Flip angle in degrees |134135## File Meta Information Tags136137| Tag | Name | Type | Description |138|-----|------|------|-------------|139| (0002,0000) | FileMetaInformationGroupLength | UL | Length of file meta information |140| (0002,0001) | FileMetaInformationVersion | OB | Version of file meta information |141| (0002,0002) | MediaStorageSOPClassUID | UI | SOP Class UID |142| (0002,0003) | MediaStorageSOPInstanceUID | UI | SOP Instance UID |143| (0002,0010) | TransferSyntaxUID | UI | Transfer syntax UID |144| (0002,0012) | ImplementationClassUID | UI | Implementation class UID |145| (0002,0013) | ImplementationVersionName | SH | Implementation version name |146147## Equipment Tags148149| Tag | Name | Type | Description |150|-----|------|------|-------------|151| (0008,0070) | Manufacturer | LO | Equipment manufacturer |152| (0008,0080) | InstitutionName | LO | Institution name |153| (0008,0081) | InstitutionAddress | ST | Institution address |154| (0008,1010) | StationName | SH | Equipment station name |155| (0008,1040) | InstitutionalDepartmentName | LO | Department name |156| (0008,1050) | PerformingPhysicianName | PN | Physician performing procedure |157| (0008,1070) | OperatorsName | PN | Operator name(s) |158| (0008,1090) | ManufacturerModelName | LO | Model name |159| (0018,1000) | DeviceSerialNumber | LO | Device serial number |160| (0018,1020) | SoftwareVersions | LO | Software version(s) |161162## Timing Tags163164| Tag | Name | Type | Description |165|-----|------|------|-------------|166| (0008,0012) | InstanceCreationDate | DA | Date instance was created |167| (0008,0013) | InstanceCreationTime | TM | Time instance was created |168| (0008,0022) | AcquisitionDate | DA | Date acquisition started |169| (0008,0032) | AcquisitionTime | TM | Time acquisition started |170| (0008,002A) | AcquisitionDateTime | DT | Acquisition date and time |171172## DICOM Value Representations (VR)173174Common value representation types used in DICOM:175176- **AE**: Application Entity (max 16 chars)177- **AS**: Age String (nnnD/W/M/Y)178- **CS**: Code String (max 16 chars)179- **DA**: Date (YYYYMMDD)180- **DS**: Decimal String181- **DT**: Date Time (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.FFFFFF&ZZXX)182- **IS**: Integer String183- **LO**: Long String (max 64 chars)184- **LT**: Long Text (max 10240 chars)185- **PN**: Person Name186- **SH**: Short String (max 16 chars)187- **SQ**: Sequence of Items188- **ST**: Short Text (max 1024 chars)189- **TM**: Time (HHMMSS.FFFFFF)190- **UI**: Unique Identifier (UID)191- **UL**: Unsigned Long (4 bytes)192- **US**: Unsigned Short (2 bytes)193- **OB**: Other Byte String194- **OW**: Other Word String195196## Usage Examples197198### Accessing Tags by Name199```python200patient_name = ds.PatientName201study_date = ds.StudyDate202modality = ds.Modality203```204205### Accessing Tags by Number206```python207patient_name = ds[0x0010, 0x0010].value208study_date = ds[0x0008, 0x0020].value209modality = ds[0x0008, 0x0060].value210```211212### Checking if Tag Exists213```python214if hasattr(ds, 'PatientName'):215 print(ds.PatientName)216217# Or using 'in' operator218if (0x0010, 0x0010) in ds:219 print(ds[0x0010, 0x0010].value)220```221222### Safe Access with Default Value223```python224patient_name = getattr(ds, 'PatientName', 'Unknown')225study_desc = ds.get('StudyDescription', 'No description')226```227228## References229230- DICOM Standard: https://www.dicomstandard.org/231- DICOM Tag Browser: https://dicom.innolitics.com/ciods232- Pydicom Documentation: https://pydicom.github.io/pydicom/
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