SDC - Service-oriented device connectivity
In recent years, lack of interoperability in the healthcare system has increasingly been viewed as an obstacle. For transmission of medical imaging data or patient data in the hospital, possibilities for standardised communication beyond manufacturer boundaries are in place with DICOM or HL7. But for transmission of data between medical devices, an equivalent possibility was unavailable to date. With the IEEE 11073-SDC standards (Working group standards), this gap has now been closed.
During our development as a project (History), we aimed through open and dynamic integration beyond individual manufacturer boundaries to create new added value for the various user groups, and to lower the barrier for willing manufacturers of innovative solutions within the health sector.
The most important functions facilitated by use of the SDC protocol are:
- bidirectional data transfer between a number of medical devices from different manufacturers
- remote control of individual functions
- consistent data and high data quality through standardised communication
In technical terms, the standards are based on the paradigm of service-oriented architecture (SOA) (technical page). For the practical realisation, several open source libraries are available.
In first prototype implementations, various functions could be realised and the added value for clinical staff and hospital operators evaluated (Demonstrators). The first commercially available devices with an implemented SDC interface are expected within the course of this year.
