DICOM Attribute

Study Time (0008,0030)

Keyword
StudyTime
VR
TM
VM
1

Definition

Time the Study started.

From NEMA PS3.3 §C.7.2.1.

Attribute Metadata

Tag
(0008,0030)
Keyword
StudyTime
Name
Study Time
Value Representation (VR)
TM
Value Multiplicity (VM)
1
Status
Active
Source
NEMA PS3.6 (table_6-1)

This attribute is part of the current DICOM Standard. Its value representation is TM with multiplicity 1.

Used in 2 Modules

This attribute uses the TM Value Representation. Multiplicity 1 governs how many values may be encoded.

Integration Notes

Real-world integration guidance for engineers implementing this attribute in Mirth Connect, FHIR gateways, HL7 v2 bridges, and cloud DICOM services. Authoritative source data where available; reference examples and operational notes where they add value.

FHIR Mapping

  • ImagingStudy.started (0008,0020)+(0008,0030)

Source: HL7 FHIR R5 ImagingStudy (CC0).

HL7 v2 Equivalent

  • OBR-7 Observation Date/Time (time portion)
    ORU

    Time portion of the OBR-7 timestamp. Date portion goes to (0008,0020) StudyDate.

    Source: HL7 v2 standard

Verify against IHE Radiology TF Vol 2 and your facility's interface specification before production use.

Cloud DICOM Support

  • AWS HealthImaging Queryable
  • Azure DICOM Queryable
  • Google Cloud Healthcare Queryable

Study Time is a Study-level QIDO-RS matching key, typically combined with StudyDate.

Per-vendor source URLs and verification date in src/content/dicom/cloud-support.json#_meta. Status taxonomy: required (mandated on Store), queryable (QIDO-RS matching key), preserved (stored as-is), promoted (AWS top-level metadata), unsupported (stripped/rejected).

Real-World Sample Values

  • 072730 CT_small.dcm
  • 185059 MR_small.dcm
  • 14:04:38 ExplVR_BigEnd.dcm

Extracted from pydicom test fixtures (MIT, de-identified).

Mirth Connect Example

Combine StudyDate + StudyTime into a single ISO 8601 timestamp — DICOM splits date and time into DA + TM; downstream systems (FHIR ImagingStudy

DICOM splits date and time into DA + TM; downstream systems (FHIR ImagingStudy.started, HL7 OBR-7) want a combined DateTime.

// (0008,0020) StudyDate (DA: YYYYMMDD) + (0008,0030) StudyTime (TM: HHMMSS.FFFFFF)
var date = String(msg.dataset.attr.(@tag == '00080020').value).trim();
var time = String(msg.dataset.attr.(@tag == '00080030').value).trim();
if (date.length !== 8) { channelMap.put('invalid_study_date', date); return; }
if (!time) time = '000000';
// Strip fractional seconds for HL7 compatibility (keep ISO 8601 for FHIR)
var ts = date + time.replace('.', '').substring(0, 6);
// HL7 v2 TS format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
tmp['OBR'][7][1] = ts;
// FHIR-style ISO 8601 for channelMap consumers
var iso = date.substring(0,4) + '-' + date.substring(4,6) + '-' + date.substring(6,8) + 'T' + time.substring(0,2) + ':' + time.substring(2,4) + ':' + time.substring(4,6);
channelMap.put('study_iso_dt', iso);

Reference only — validate before production. Snippets are starting points, not turnkey solutions. Always test against your channel's specific message structure and your facility's interface specification. See Mirth Connect User Guide + NEMA PS3.6 + your vendor conformance statement for authoritative specification.

Common Operational Errors

Operational error patterns for the most-queried tags will be added as coverage expands.

DICOM Integration Services

Saga IT builds production DICOM integrations across Mirth Connect, FHIR gateways, and cloud imaging platforms. If you're working with StudyTime or the broader (0008,0030) context: