dicomanonymizer.com

What It Is

DICOM Anonymizer is a local macOS desktop tool from doRadiology.com for batch anonymization and pseudonymization of DICOM medical imaging data. Its core interaction model is Drag ’n Drop: users can drop in a single DICOM file or deeply nested folders, and the app will recursively find and process DICOM data. The text states that the tool was first released in 2012, while the current page mentions an update in March 2022. The system requirement is macOS 11.5 or later.

Core Capabilities

Its feature set is fairly comprehensive. It can automatically generate a traceable Look-Up Table based on PatientID, and it also supports creating and propagating LUTs from other DICOM attributes, making it suitable for clinical-trial subject coding. The default anonymization configuration is based on DICOM Standard Annex E, with additional attributes that may contain PHI included as well; users can delete or replace values on an attribute-by-attribute basis. The tool can also inspect DICOM headers, search by attribute name/tag/VR/value, and preview images to help identify PHI that may be burned into pixel data. Its UID handling is relatively advanced: it can preserve series and study relationships while generating valid replacement UIDs.

Data Organization and Configuration

Beyond de-identification, it can delete or move reports, PDFs, text files, and BurnedInAnnotations files that may display PHI. It can reorganize folders based on header attributes, clean up non-DICOM files, hidden files, invalid files, and empty folders, and filter data by Modality or PatientID. Multiple configuration versions can be saved, and a fixed configuration can also be placed inside the app bundle, making it easier to distribute consistent rules to students or colleagues. If VS Code is installed, configurations can be edited directly with VS Code.

Pricing and Licensing

The tool is free to use and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The page explicitly allows users to perform anonymization/pseudonymization for others and charge for that service, but users may not sell the application itself or sell it as part of a derivative work. No information was found about an API, SDK, CLI, enterprise support, or cloud-service pricing.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

Its strengths are that it is free, runs locally, offers detailed controls, and provides strong configuration flexibility. It is well suited to radiology departments, hospitals, medical research teams, and research projects that need to share DICOM data. The limitations are also clear: only macOS support is explicitly stated; whether it is open source is not specified; there is no automation API; HIPAA compliance remains the user’s responsibility; and the page recommends that headers must be reviewed after processing. Organizations that need team audit trails, permission management, pipeline integration, or cross-platform deployment may need a more enterprise-oriented alternative.

Access from China

The text does not provide information about access from mainland China, download speed, payment, or mirrors, so this remains unknown. Since it is a free macOS app, payment is not the main barrier, but actual download availability still needs to be tested. If you only need to inspect DICOM headers, the page mentions Horos. If your main need is converting to JPEG/TIFF/PNG or video, you may want to look at DICOM-Converter.com, which is also mentioned on the page.