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Commitment to open standards for medical device communication

Danmeter are committed to adapt to open standards and public recommendations for medical device interfacing to supply the healthcare infrastructure demands to include medical device data in patient records, computer charting and computer aided diagnosis.

The idea to make all devices communicate in a common manner started the project called Medical Interface Bus (MIB) almost fifteen years ago. It became IEEE 1073 and now also ISO 11073 and is still an ongoing project. IEEE 1073 is massively comprehensive but can be broken down into three areas of physical connections including definitions for cabling, plug and sockets and lower and upper level protocols.
Certain barriers exists to implement the IEEE 1073 standard as there is no obvious grand approval 1.0 version, only a proliferation or drafts, approval workgroups and ballots and general confusion. Nevertheless, the computer revolution in hospitals is well and truly under way, and we believe real demands for device data integration will drive the standards to implementation at a faster speed.

The first IEEE 1073 adoption in Danmeter products will take place in the Cerebral State Monitor (CSM) solution. Specifically, we plan to implement the IEEE 1073 standard in the CSM Link making the CSM monitor compliant to the IEEE 1073 standard. Users already operating the CSM monitor today will benefit to comply with the IEEE 1073 standard just by upgrading the eventual installed base of CSM Link – the CSM monitor do not require upgrades to comply to the IEEE 1073 standard.

Summary of the IEEE 1073 Standard for Medical Device Communications

IEEE is a charter member of ANSI and is an Accredited Standards Developing Organization.

The P1073 is a IEEE standard (formerly Medical Information Bus - MIB), which provides vendor-independent interconnection and interoperability of medical devices and computer systems. The MIB uses a layered network architecture that is compatible with International Standards Organization/Open Systems Interconnection (ISO/OSI) specifications. The standards primarily focus on the acute care environment at the patient's bedside, particularly when this environment is in the intensive care area of the hospital. However, the MIB is suitable for use in other areas such as the operating room or the general ward. The bus can also interface to any general clinical equipment for simple data communication and control purposes.

The IEEE 1073 Standard for Medical Device Communications specifies a complete seven layer communications protocol for patient connected bedside medical devices. Adoption of the IEEE 1073 Standard by healthcare organizations permits them to start designing more effective systems to ensure patient safety today, and enables continuing improvement in patient safety and the quality of care.

Further information on www.ieee.org
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