Why is dicomwrite limited to 2^32-1 bytes of data?

microCT image volumes exceed 4.29gb. Is there a workaround for the 4.29gb limit?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

http://clearcanvas.ca/Community/Forums/tabid/69/aff/1/aft/15703/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Steve Wranovsky wrote,

"The pixel data attribute itself is type OB/OW. The length of the attribute is stored as an 32-bit unsigned int. So, an uncompressed image can have a maximum size of 2^32 -2. (2^32 -1 represents "undefined length", so it isn't allowed for pixel data)."

[Steven Jorgensen]

Thanks very much for the explanation. It is an unfortunate limitation in the 64 bit world we now live in.