# How to read NRRD metadata

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/how-to-read-nrrd-metadata/7266>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [June 20, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/how-to-read-nrrd-metadata/7266 "2019-06-20T21:25:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Leon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/leon/32/1468_2.png) [@Leon](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Leon)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/how-to-read-nrrd-metadata/7266/1 "2019-06-20T21:25:10Z")

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Imported DICOM files are normally saved as a NRRD file by which the images are anonymized. Ideal for privacy reasons.  
But if someone sends me such a anonymized NRRD file, am I then still able to read all the other remeaning metadata inside the NRRD?

I did a check on the sample ‘CTChest NRRD’ and converted it to a DICOM serie. After importing this serie into the DICOM browser I was able to read some metadata, but a DICOM normally contains very many metadata. Is there a better way by which I can read all metadata in a NRRD file, or are just many data discarded during conversion?  
In other words: does Slicer have a NRRD metadata reader?

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/how-to-read-nrrd-metadata/7266/2 "2019-06-20T22:01:11Z")

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> [@Leon](#):
>
> But if someone sends me such a anonymized NRRD file, am I then still able to read all the other remeaning metadata inside the NRRD?

Normally only image geometry (origin, spacing, axis directions) is saved in nrrd files, so you cannot recover any other DICOM tags.

If you need information in the DICOM tags then ask for an anonymized DICOM file or export DICOM tags to a separate file (e.g., using DCMTK toolkit’s dcmdump or dcm2xml tools).