Methods and apparatus for streaming DICOM images or objects through data element sources and sinks. Digital data contained in relatively large DICOM objects of any size can be transmitted between applications, devices, or storage media in a network. The use of data element sources and data element sinks to incrementally process data elements and data values one at a time, minimizes the amount of memory needed to perform a DICOM operation. The methods and apparatus according to the present invention limit the consumption of memory resources while providing a relatively small, fixed amount of memory for handling a relatively large DICOM object, while maintaining the performance of applications operating in the DICOM network.