DICOM Attribute

Series Description (0008,103E)

Keyword
SeriesDescription
VR
LO
VM
1

Definition

Description of the Series.

From NEMA PS3.3 §C.7.3.1.

Attribute Metadata

Tag
(0008,103E)
Keyword
SeriesDescription
Name
Series Description
Value Representation (VR)
LO
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 LO with multiplicity 1.

Used in 7 Modules

This attribute uses the LO 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.series.description (0008,103E)

Source: HL7 FHIR R5 ImagingStudy (CC0).

HL7 v2 Equivalent

  • OBX-3 / TXA-3 Observation Identifier (or Document Type) site-dependent
    ORU

    DICOM SeriesDescription is free LO; HL7 v2 has no direct equivalent. Often left blank or filled at the modality.

    Source: common convention

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

Cloud DICOM Support

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

Series Description is preserved but not a QIDO-RS matching key by default. Free-text content.

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

  • AXIAL T2 FLAIR common MR series naming

    Plane + sequence + weighting — typical brain MR series convention

  • POST CONTRAST AXIAL T1 common MR series naming

    Timing + plane + weighting

  • 5MM AXIAL SOFT TISSUE common CT series naming

    Slice thickness + plane + reconstruction kernel

  • TOPOGRAM 0.6 T20s Siemens CT scout convention

    Vendor-specific localizer naming

Curated illustrative samples — no real PHI. Each value teaches a real-world pattern (PN VR component delimiters, multi-script encoding, MRN format, RadLex order text). Maintained at scripts/dicom/data/manual-samples.source.json.

Mirth Connect Example

JavaScript transformer snippets for the most-queried tags will be added as coverage expands.

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 SeriesDescription or the broader (0008,103E) context: