EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Philips Intellivue MX800

Unfortunately, Geoff, when it comes to interoperability, nothing is simple. If you follow Tim Gee's blog (http://medicalconnectivity.com) you can see how complicated things can become, as soon as you try to standardize things. In the past, many standards (OpenInterface, MDIL, MIB) were proposed as standards for medical device connectivity. Some manufacturers invested heavily in complying to those standards - but in the end, no one else did. That left the industry fractured with many different "standards", with hardly anyone willing to invest in the next great thing. I hope IHE will succeed where other efforts have failed.

Yes, I'm aware of Tim's blog.

It seems to me that only one or two of the Big Players (in medical equipment) are true innovators.

Meanwhile, I believe I'm right in saying that that part of the world that makes most of the kit these days have something of a reputation for being great copiers of other folk's technology. Those guys don't invest in technology. Their religion is money, and profit (and only that) is their goal.

Myself, I can't see the over-riding imperative for every piece of equipment to talk to each other. Not unless it's the toaster, the 'fridge and the microwave oven, that is.

Hello Dr. Chandana,
Sorry I was unable to to download the pdf files. Can you please send them to me via e-mail. I'll contact my Philips sales rep, the moment she is available. However going back to IHE standards. I was at the Himms2012 conference, attending the Interoperability section.

I think that not only manufacturers are trying to implement this standard i.e Philips, Drager, Siemens, Mindray, Smith Medical etc to state a few. However I came across EHR/EMR & HIS vendors who are in the process of being IHE compliant as well Cerner, Allscripts, SIS etc.

The interesting part is that not only NIST is taking an active role but also FDA has also shown an interest in the IHE standards.

My other question was are you aware of anyone using their in-house development to develop the middleware (DOR & DOF)? just curious?

Thanks
Tim

I haven't actually heard of anyone developing their own middleware, although that doesn't mean there isn't anyone doing it. However, it seems to me to be a superfluous effort, since there are so many commercial and freeware HL7 brokers available. Even with the free stuff you can download off SourceForge you can do quite a lot, and in some cases you can even get some decent support.

Dr. Chandana,
The interface that you mentioned is no different from what other third party vendors that Phillips cooperates with i.e Capsule.

What makes your interface different from Capsule?. Basically in both cases the user has to pay additional cost to retrieve patient data.

I guess the concept of Plug N play device is far fetched at the moment even with the implementation of IHE standards.

Thanks
Tim

Think of it this way: if you write a client for the LAN data export interface, and have that client forward the same data to your EMR in a format that your EMR understands, how much would that cost you in terms of time and money?

If you answered "Low", then that is the best path, as the LAN data export from the MX800 is free of charge.

If you would rather invest those resources elsewhere, Capsule offers you that client, converting the data from the monitor to the format your EMR understands. The IntelliVue Information Center offers you an independent HL7 stream (generated by data it gets from the monitor) and sends it your EMR with MDIL coding. If your EMR does not support MDIL standard, you need an HL7 broker (either commercial or freeware) to translate.



The biggest problem with the concept of a plug and play device is defining whom it plays with, and what it plays. In order for a complex mix of devices and systems to be plug and play, you need to reduce the functionality of the whole system to the level of the lowest common denominator. This is just one of the many issues that need to be addressed.

Hello Dr. Chandana,
Can you please send me the Interface Data pdf that you had mentioned earlier ago. I am unable to download it. Furthermore are there any open source per say Hl7 interface that you can reccomend that I can have a look at. Just for fun sake.

What is your opinion about MIRTH project?

Thanks

Dr. Chandana,
Can you please send me the Data Export program interface guide for MX800, we are currently on rev H.

Thanks

Hi Tim,

I sent you an email from my Philips address. Once you provide me the details, I will send you the document.

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but I think its relevant to this thread. I'll keep it brief:

Rather than starting from scratch and building your own interface to these Philips patient monitors, you might want to save time and avoid re-inventing the wheel:

http://www.medicollector.com

Using the MediCollector product, you can quickly and easy stream and export data from Philips patient monitors onto your hard disk.