When I was working on MRI data about a decade ago, there was another newer format .NII gaining traction. This was demonstrably easier to work with and the good thing was a lot of views (imagine a time series or fat-water separated information) & could simply be stored in its container format as opposed to Dicom.
I am not sure how well it might work for viewing on patient consoles, but it sure was a step ahead for making data portable.
There's no NII format, that's the file extension of a format called NIfTI.
NIfTI is not meant to be a replacement for DICOM. It's meant to be a quick and simple file format only for neuroimaging and only for research. It's missing countless features that are required for clinical use and it stores 3D data. So it's not a good format for xrays, ultrasounds, etc.
I am not sure how well it might work for viewing on patient consoles, but it sure was a step ahead for making data portable.
Edit: NifTI format. I was forgetting the name.