Compendium of Health Telematics Projects 94-98 (Draft)
Home Documents Compendium HT Projects 94-98 Updated: Aug 26, 1998 

This is the most recent structured information on this project. Complementary data can be found on previous documents

AORTICS

Advanced open resource telematics in critical care situations

Project code: HC 1002
Project value: 1000.0 KECU
EC contribution: 500.0 KECU
Number of partners: 8
Number of countries: 4
Duration:24 months
Starting date: Jan 1, 96
               
Contact: Jose Antonio Friaz
Software AG España, S.A.
Ronda de la Luna, 4
Madrid
Spain

Tel: +34 1 807 94 85
Fax: +34 1 807 94 47
E-mail: jfrias@sag.es
Web Site: www.sag.es

Overview

An enormous amount of information, such as the medical instrumentation data and the observations of medical personnel regarding the patient, is being generated at the bedside in an Intensive Care Unit. In practice, all this information is not always being captured, integrated and consequently processed in order to achieve a better understanding of the condition of the patient. A remaining major technical problem is the communication between devices in this environment. Several proprietary solutions have been developed by local initiatives from big manufacturers. These solutions have not gained general acceptability and have failed to draw upon the immense resources for instrumentation development which are available in the industry. Consequently, there is an urgent need to have a set of standards for Medical Device Intercommunication that will provide the ability to connect devices to each other freely and to exchange data between them. The application of such standards will rapidly create a completely new concept of the monitoring capabilities in the different departments within a health care institution.

Purpose and objectives

The objective of AORTICS is to develop, implement, demonstrate and evaluate a practical telematics platform for a Medical Local Network to be used in the Critical Care Environment based on an open standard. The main contribution of this work is to create and validate an Open System by implementing the Normalization Work carried out by the CEN/TC251 WG5. The prototype will serve to test the norms and as the first practical feedback to guarantee that the norms will work in real life situations. The results of this project are expected to help create products that can be officially certified by the CEN and add specific value to customers and companies.

Results

AORTICS is a network for the communication of Medical Devices. The AORTICS project attempts to develop an Open System Architecture where devices from different manufacturers can be interconnected and plug and play operation is possible. To set up such a system, awareness of the fundamental open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model of the International Standardization Organization and of related standards is necessary. Currently a full family of standards for all seven layers of the OSI reference model does not yet exist. To build an open system for an Intensive Care Unit within the AORTICS project the existing standards have been compiled and analyzed. For the lower layers publicly available hardware from telecommunication technology may be used. For upper layers the CEN/TC 251 WG5 developed standard for Vital Signs Information Representation (VITAL) shall be applied. The AORTICS project development will also establish methods and software for device interoperability. The AORTICS network will interrelate the different Medical Devices at the patient bedside in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Each device will be connected to a bedside PC central computer as depicted in the figure.Communication between Medical Devices makes it possible to analyze the biomedical patient parameters. The data obtained from several devices may be stored, on the one hand, to register the vital parameters of the patient; or, on the other hand, for later processing of these data. This biosignal information shall be downloaded in an open format, so that any application will be able to read and operate with it. The CEN/TC251 is working on the definition of European standards for file formats to permit the interchange of vital signs. End-user applications will test the AORTICS network capability for the communication between Medical Devices.

List of deliverables

Year 1

Year 2

List of participants

Name: Jose Antonio Frias Pedro Basagoiti
Organisation: Software AG España, S.A.
Address: Ronda de la Luna, 4 Tres Cantos E-28760 Madrid
Country: Spain
Tel: +34 1 807 94 85
Fax: +34 1 807 94 47
E-mail: jfriaz@sag.es
Website: www.sag.es
Name: Vincent Mifsud
Organisation: Medelec Limited
Address: Manor Way Old Woking Surrey GU22 9JU
Country: UK
Tel: +44 1483 71 82 04
Fax: +44 1483 76 70 20
E-mail: 101642.3414@compuserve.com
Name: Antonio González
Organisation: R.G.B. Medical Devices, S.A.
Address: Alfonso Gómez 42 E - 28037 Madrid
Country: Spain
Tel: +34 1 3042011
Fax: +34 1 3273903
Name: Christoph Zywietz
Organisation: Biosignalverarbeitung Medizinische Hochschule
Address: Konstanty-Gutschow-Str 8 D - 30625 Hannover
Country: Germany
Tel: +49 511 5324411 / 12
Fax: +49 511 5324295
E-mail: czywietz@biosignal.mh-hannover.de
Name: Daniel Borches
Organisation: Hospital Materno Infantil 'LA PAZ' Servicio de Cirugía Cardiovascular Infantil
Address: Paseo de la Castellana, 261 E - 28046 Madrid
Country: Spain
Tel: +34 1 7343200
Fax: + 34 1 7342600
Name: Ricardo Ruiz
Organisation: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Dpto. Ingeniería Electrónica (DAEI)
Address: José Gutierrez Abascal, 2 E - 28006 Madrid
Country: Spain
Tel: +34 1 4117517
Fax: +34 1 5645966
E-mail: rruiz@upmdie.upm.es
Name: Christian Ernst
Organisation: Groupe ESIM Dept. EII/ISMEA
Address: IMT - Technopole de Chateau - Gombert 13451 Marseille CEDEX 20
Country:
Tel: +33 491 05 46 38
Fax: +33 491 70 06
E-mail: ernst@ismea.imt-mrs.fr
Name: Wolfgang Friesdorf
Organisation: University of ULM Sektion. ATV
Address: Klinik für Anästhäsiologie Steinhoevelstr 9 D - 89075 ULM
Country:
Tel: +49 731 502 79 40
Fax: +49 731 502 66
E-mail: wolfgang.friesdorf@ifa.kf.tu-berlin.de

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