Updated October 24, 2026
You don't need the program that came on the disc. Insert the disc, click Open a disc or folder… above, choose the disc drive itself, and MesDICOM finds the images on it. It works in a browser tab on Windows and Mac and is free.
What is on a hospital disc?
Hospitals write scans to discs in the DICOM format, the standard for medical images. Most discs hold the same few things:
| On the disc | What it is | Do you need it? |
|---|---|---|
| A folder of image files, often called DICOM | Your scan: one file per image, often with no file extension | Yes — these are the images |
| DICOMDIR | The disc's table of contents | Not on its own. It lists the images; it isn't them |
| A viewer program (an .exe, AUTORUN) | Software the hospital ships for Windows | No |
| A PDF or a picture | Sometimes the written report or a preview | Not for viewing the images |
How do I open the disc?
- Insert the disc. If a viewer program starts by itself, close it.
- Click Open a disc or folder… and choose the disc drive itself.
- Don't pick DICOMDIR or the viewer program on their own. MesDICOM reads every file and keeps the images.
MesDICOM sorts what it finds into studies and series, the way the scanner made them. If the disc holds more than one study, you choose which one to open. You can also drag the disc's icon onto this page.
What if the browser won't let me choose the disc?
Some computers don't offer the disc drive itself in the folder dialog. Then copy the whole disc to a folder on your computer — every folder on it, DICOMDIR included — and choose that folder with Open a disc or folder…. It opens exactly the same way.
Do I need the viewer program on the disc?
No. MesDICOM reads the images directly and never runs the program on the disc. That also means a disc made for Windows opens on a Mac.
My computer has no disc drive. What now?
- Borrow a drive. An external USB DVD drive costs little and works with any computer.
- Ask for a download. Many hospitals can send the study as a download link or a ZIP. Open a ZIP with Open files or a ZIP… — see opening a DICOM ZIP.
- Copy it once. Anyone with a disc drive can copy the disc to a USB stick for you. Then open the USB stick like a disc.
Phones can't read discs at all. Once the disc is copied to a folder or a ZIP, MesDICOM for iPhone and iPad opens it too.
What can I do once the images are open?
Scroll through the images, change brightness and contrast or pick a window preset, zoom, measure lengths and angles, play a series as a movie, and look at a CT or MR series in three planes or in 3D. Save to Library keeps the study in this browser so it opens again next time; otherwise nothing is kept.
MesDICOM shows the images; it doesn't interpret them. Your doctor or the radiologist's report explains what they show.
