Write DICOM data

This example shows how to write a DICOM file from scratch using pydicom. This example does not produce a DICOM standards compliant file as written, you will have to change UIDs to valid values and add all required DICOM data elements.

Setting dataset values...
Setting file meta information...
Writing dataset to: /tmp/tmpbcd4r2s3.dcm
Load dataset from: /tmp/tmpbcd4r2s3.dcm ...
Dataset.file_meta -------------------------------
(0002,0000) File Meta Information Group Length  UL: 128
(0002,0001) File Meta Information Version       OB: b'\x00\x01'
(0002,0002) Media Storage SOP Class UID         UI: CT Image Storage
(0002,0003) Media Storage SOP Instance UID      UI: 1.2.3
(0002,0010) Transfer Syntax UID                 UI: Explicit VR Little Endian
(0002,0012) Implementation Class UID            UI: 1.2.3.4
(0002,0013) Implementation Version Name         SH: 'PYDICOM 3.1.0'
-------------------------------------------------
(0008,0023) Content Date                        DA: '20241117'
(0008,0033) Content Time                        TM: '182652.874911'
(0010,0010) Patient's Name                      PN: 'Test^Firstname'
(0010,0020) Patient ID                          LO: '123456'
Deleting file: /tmp/tmpbcd4r2s3.dcm ...

# authors : Darcy Mason, Guillaume Lemaitre <g.lemaitre58@gmail.com>
# license : MIT

import datetime
from pathlib import Path
import tempfile

import pydicom
from pydicom.dataset import Dataset, FileMetaDataset
from pydicom.uid import UID, ExplicitVRLittleEndian


print("Setting dataset values...")
ds = Dataset()
ds.PatientName = "Test^Firstname"
ds.PatientID = "123456"
# Set creation date/time
dt = datetime.datetime.now()
ds.ContentDate = dt.strftime("%Y%m%d")
ds.ContentTime = dt.strftime("%H%M%S.%f")  # long format with micro seconds

print("Setting file meta information...")
# Populate required values for file meta information
file_meta = FileMetaDataset()
file_meta.MediaStorageSOPClassUID = UID("1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2")
file_meta.MediaStorageSOPInstanceUID = UID("1.2.3")
file_meta.ImplementationClassUID = UID("1.2.3.4")
file_meta.TransferSyntaxUID = ExplicitVRLittleEndian

# Add the file meta information
ds.file_meta = file_meta

path = Path(tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".dcm").name)
print(f"Writing dataset to: {path}")
ds.save_as(path, enforce_file_format=True)

# reopen the data just for checking
print(f"Load dataset from: {path} ...")
ds = pydicom.dcmread(path)
print(ds)

# remove the created file
print(f"Deleting file: {path} ...")
path.unlink()