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@Chandana:

I have downloaded the XDS application and installed it on a PC. The installation was successful (I think). I want to test the printing capability by printing to PDF files. What do I need to do?

Following is the procedure you can use for your evaluation. If you are installing the application for use with patients, please also read the "IntelliVue XDS Installation and Configuration Guide".

You need to:
1. configure the XDS Print Server component
2. configure the monitor to print to XDS print server

Configuring XDS Print Server:
- right click on the XDS tray icon and select "Configuration"
- make sure the correct network card has been selected and the BootP server is auto-configured
- In the "Files" tab, select the main folder where you want the reports to go to, and select the folder cleanup options as necessary
- Go to "Printing" tab. Enable the printing component, enable at least one print queue.
- Edit the print queue. Select paper size, and disable legacy PCL5 support. In the "File output" container, select "Add". Select file type (eg. PDF, JPEG, TIFF).
- select the Script Name. This item determines how the application automatically sorts the print files coming from multiple monitors and patients. For example, if you select the script "Sorted by BedLabel#MRN#MRN_Title_Time.wsc", the program will automatically create a new folder with the bed label, create a new folder underneath it for the MRN, and name the file using the MRN, report title and time. Eg. /Bed5/80386/80386_ST MAP Report_30 July 09 08_43_32.pdf

Now, connect the monitor to the PC using a cross cable. If your PC has more than one network card, connect to the card that you selected for the XDS configuration.

Configuring the monitor:
For electronic printing, your IntelliVue must have software revision F.0 or higher. Below F.0, you can only do Legacy PCL 5 printing to a hardcopy printer.
- in config mode, go to "Reports"
- go to "Set up Reports" menu item
- select the type of report you want to print, and set the target device to PRN1 (or the name you selected for the print queue). Set the paper size to A4 where available.
- Repeat the above step for each type of report you want to send to the PC
- save the changes to the Monitor Settings block, and exit config mode

Now, whenever you print one of the reports you configured, the monitor will capture the report and store it in the internal database. Whenever a network connection to a PC with the XDS Print Server becomes available, the reports will be automatically sent to the PC, and stored in the specified format, in the specified folder.

If you need further information, please don't hesitate to ask. You can also ask the Philips Sales Specialist handling your account for a demonstration.

Hi Runesmith,

I hope your installation was successful. There was one other thing I forgot to mention. The IntelliVue monitors have an internal print database where they will store print reports (up to 50 reports) temporarily when the network connection to a central station or an XDS (or a PC with XDS software running on it)is not available.

This feature also gives you the possibility to automatically store alarm recordings in memory during patient transport (instead of using a recorder and thermal paper) and have them automatically printed and/or electronically stored on the XDS hard disk the moment the monitor is connected to an XDS. These reports could then be exported to the EMR using a custom push or pull interface.

There are many institutions that use the IntelliVue X2 module in ER/PACU areas as a transport as well as a standalone bedside monitor. These institutions use XDS as a supplementary screen where they can see additional parameters on a large display, as a control panel to access the monitor and also as a report/alarm strip storage. These customers configure their X2 alarm recording to print directly to the internal database and then download them to XDS when they are connected.

Yes, it worked great. Thanks for the guide. I'll try the database storage next. Like you said, that would be great for x2.

And here is a brief explanation on how to configure your transport monitors to capture alarm reports to the database, and automatically print or store to a storage location whenever a connection to the XDS Print Server is available.

1. Go to config mode
2. Go to Databases>Database config. Make sure that the Print Database is set to Small or Large. The factory default is Large.
3. Go to Reports>Setup printers. Set the printer to "Database". Then select the desired paper size (this same paper size must be selected in XDS, otherwise the reports may refuse to print).
4. Go to Recordings>Setup recordings. Select Alarm, and change the recorder to "Printer". This ensures that any alarm recording will also be sent to the system printer, which is now set to "Database".
5. Go to Alarms>Alarm Recording. Select all the alarms that should trigger a capture (eg, HR red & yellow etc)
6. Go to Reports>Setup reports. Select “Realtime Rep” as the report, and change the target device to “Database”. Repeat this step with any other manual report you want to store during transport (eg. ST-MAP report, 12-lead reports).
7. Save all these changes under the monitor settings block. If the default profile and blocks are locked, you will need to create a new block, assign it to a new profile and make that profile default.

Now, whenever one of the alarms selected in step 4 is triggered, the IntelliVue will automatically capture the alarm and create an alarm recording report that will be stored in the database. The exact number of reports that can be stored depends on the types of reports etc, but a minimum of 50 single waveform alarm strips can be stored when the database size is set to “Large”. When the database is full, the monitor will display “Print job can’t queue” on the status line whenever a new recording is triggered and will not store any new recordings until the old ones are printed or deleted.

You can also manually trigger any of the reports you set in step 6, and they will also print to the database.

At any time, you can go to "Reports>Reports job list" to see the events that are waiting to be printed. You can delete them selectively (stop report), or as a batch if necessary (stop all reports).

When the monitor is connected to a PC with XDS application (direct or via network), it will automatically print the reports, or send them to a patient-specific folder as PDF, PNG or any other format as defined in the XDS application.

Thanks for the pointers. I got back from vacation to find a whole bunch of stuff waiting at my table, so I haven't managed to try this yet.I will let you know when I try it. I need to "steal" an x2 from the ccu to try this. They are the only ones who have the x2. All others use MMS. This won't work with an MMS would it?

You don't actually need an X2 specifically for this. All IntelliVue monitors have the capability to store reports in memory and print when a network connection (wired or wireless) is available. So if you could "steal" a transport monitor (MP20,30,40 or 50) with an MMS, you could try this on that monitor. The procedure is exactly the same, since all IntelliVue monitors share the same user interface. One requirement: the monitor must have software revision F.0 or higher.

@Chndana: I managed to get a x2 and try this, and I am happy to report that it works great (after a few initial hiccups because I forgot to store the profile on x2). The IT guys didn't know about this capability, and I was happy to beat them at their own game.

This electronic printing is a great feature and I don't understand why you guys don't promote this much. This is something that really puts you ahead in the game.

Dear Mr Runesmith,

Would you care to identify yourself and/or the institution you work for? We have been communicating through this forum and I have been sharing information with you, and I would like to verify that you are a bona-fide user who is responsible for service of our equipment. I would also appreciate if you could declare any conflict of interest you may have with Philips. In my experience, BME's hardly praise vendors in a public forum, so I tend to believe you may have conflicts of interest with regard to Philips and/or one of our distributors.

If you are reluctant to identify yourself publicly in the forum, please respond to the message that I sent you via this forum.

I would love to believe that you are really who you indicate yourself to be, but somehow, things don't add up. Maybe I am paranoid. If I am mistaken, I humbly apologize.

Sorry to butt in, as it were ... but I can't let that one pass! There have been many posts on this forum singing the praises of this, that and the other. "Credit where credit is due" is the phrase which comes to mind! And not every body has vested interests, you know.