JDicom is a free set of Java DICOM tools made by TIANI Medgraph (Austria) in the early 2000s. It was built for testing and troubleshooting DICOM connections: sending, receiving, querying, printing and validating medical images. People who search for “JDicom” are usually IT staff, PACS administrators or imaging engineers. In a dental setting, that means the person who needs to check why a CBCT or panoramic unit is not sending images to the archive.
JDicom is legacy software. Gunter Zeilinger wrote it at TIANI around 2000, before he started the open-source dcm4che project. The last known version is 1.7.35, and the original tiani.com site now exists only in web archives. It is not a dental image viewer, and it is no longer developed. This page explains what it did, where it can still help, and which maintained tools replace it.
JDicom at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 1.7.35, the last version on the archived official page, which was online by February 2005. No later release is known. |
| Licence | Free (freeware under the TIANI JDicom Binary Code License, closed source). It includes a modified copy of Softlink’s Java DICOM Toolkit, which may not be reused separately. |
| Platforms | Java application. It was documented for Windows (with an installer for Windows 9x/NT) and Linux. It also had browser applets for the old Java Plug-in 1.2.2. |
| Developer | TIANI Medgraph (Gunter Zeilinger). TIANI later became part of GWI and then Agfa. |
| Official website | tiani.com/JDicom (offline; available only through web archives) |
| Best for | Legacy DICOM connectivity testing by IT staff who already know it |
What it does
- StorageSCU: sends DICOM files to a PACS or workstation. It can export to JPEG baseline, resample large images and split multi-frame objects.
- ImageServer: a simple DICOM receiver and archive with query/retrieve. It could create DICOMDIR records and generate a basic website from received images.
- QueryRetrieveSCU: queries a PACS and requests (moves) studies.
- ModalitySCU and RisServer: test modality worklist and related workflow messages.
- PrintSCU and PrintServer: test DICOM printing to film printers.
- EditDicomObject, EditDicomDir and Validate: inspect and edit DICOM headers, build or repair DICOMDIR files, and check objects against the standard.
- BrowseDicomSR: displays DICOM Structured Reports.
How dental teams use it
Check that a CBCT unit can send to the PACS
- Start ImageServer on a test PC as a temporary DICOM receiver, with its own AE title and port.
- Configure the CBCT or panoramic unit to send one test study to that AE title.
- If the study arrives, the modality side works. The problem is then in the PACS configuration, for example AE titles, ports or firewall rules.
Send a study from a disc to the archive
- Copy the DICOM files from the patient CD.
- Use StorageSCU to send them to the practice PACS, using its AE title, host and port.
- Confirm in the PACS that the study has arrived.
Inspect a problem file
- Open the object in EditDicomObject to read header fields such as patient ID, modality and transfer syntax.
- Run Validate to see whether the file breaks the DICOM standard. This is often why a viewer refuses to open it.
Today the same tasks are easier with maintained tools. The open-source dcm4che toolkit, from the same original author, has command-line tools for sending, querying and editing DICOM.
Install and first run
- JDicom needs a Java runtime. It dates from the Java 1.2–1.4 era, so it may behave differently, or not start at all, on current Java versions.
- The browser applet versions no longer work, because modern browsers dropped the Java Plug-in.
- Each tool is configured through properties such as AE title, host, port and timeouts. Record the settings of your PACS and modality before testing.
- Run it only on an isolated test machine. The software has received no security updates for about twenty years.
Limitations
- It has been abandoned since about 2005. There are no updates, no support and no official download site.
- It is closed source, and the licence forbids reverse engineering, so the community cannot maintain it.
- It is not a diagnostic viewer. It has no MPR, 3D or dental tools for CBCT review.
- Newer DICOM features and transfer syntaxes used by current dental imaging devices may not be supported.
- The current site data (versions 2.8.1 and 3.8.5.2, GPL/LGPL, “dental” features) is incorrect.
JDicom vs alternatives
| Tool | Use it for |
|---|---|
| dcm4che (open source) | A maintained replacement for JDicom’s send, query and edit tools |
| ONIS Free Edition | Viewing CT/CBCT with MPR and PACS query/retrieve on Windows (shareware, conditionally free) |
| Aeskulap | A simple open-source viewer with query/retrieve on Linux (no longer developed) |
| HorliX | A free DICOM viewer for macOS |
FAQ
What is JDicom?
JDicom is a suite of Java DICOM utilities from TIANI Medgraph for sending, receiving, querying, printing, editing and validating DICOM data. It is a troubleshooting toolkit rather than an image viewer for clinicians.
Is JDicom free?
Yes. It was distributed free of charge under TIANI’s binary licence. It is not open source.
Is JDicom still maintained?
No. The last known version is 1.7.35 from the early 2000s. Its author went on to create dcm4che, which is actively developed.
Can JDicom open dental CBCT scans?
It can send, receive and inspect CBCT DICOM files, but it is not designed for viewing them. Use a DICOM viewer with MPR for clinical review.
What is a good JDicom alternative?
For connectivity testing, use the dcm4che command-line tools. For viewing, use a maintained DICOM viewer on your platform.
Does JDicom run on Mac or Linux?
It is Java-based and was documented for Windows and Linux. Because it targets very old Java versions, results on current systems are uncertain.
Last checked against official sources: 26 September 2026 (developer website: web.archive.org). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in a clinic.
