In the PoCSpec project, these standards for equipment in the fields of high-frequency surgery and endoscopy are to be worked out. This will achieve a higher level of interoperability and enable the interchangeability of medical devices from different manufacturers during operation. This will sustainably strengthen Germany’s excellent international competitive position for medical devices.
The clinical need for more safety, hygiene, efficiency and ergonomics is a constant driver for OR networking as the technology of the OR increases. The ISO/IEEE 11073 series of standards “Service-oriented Device Connectivity (SDC)” enables the integration of medical devices on the basis of modern web technologies. These results are largely the result of the BMBF-funded research project “OR.NET – Secure Dynamic Networking in Operating Rooms and Clinics”, but so far various manufacturers have modelled the network representation of very similar devices differently. This makes integration into a system of networked medical devices just as difficult as testing and approving networked devices, and the need for supplementary standards has been identified both among companies and in the responsible IEEE 11073 Point of Care Devices Working Group. So-called “Device Specialisations” define the networking requirements for a device type, i.e. the scope, structure and semantics of the data and services offered in the network as well as the behaviour of the device at runtime. In addition, “Module Specifications” offer partial models that each model a function and can be referenced by several Device Specialisations.