Objective
The current proposal has been made to launch pre-normative research activities which should lead to a standard communications protocol for computerized electrocardiography. Having defined standards for ECG measurement and diagnostic programs with support of other EC Programmes, the proposed action aims specifically at the development of standards for interchange, encoding and storing of digital ECG data.
A standard communications protocol was developed for computerized electrocardiography, consisting of standards for the interchange, encoding and storage of digital electrocardiogram (ECG) data. 3 distinct but related workpackages were carried out in close collaboration with representatives from academia and industry. Standards for the data content and format of the record to be transmitted, as well as messages and communication protocols were studied in the first workpackage. The data content and format have been defined for cart to host and host to host communication of digital ECG data. Also query request and different messages were defined for various users. Translation of the standard communications protocol (SCP) ECG communications protocol into the ASN.1 and EDIFACT syntax notation was worked out in first attempts for prototypes. For lower level open systems interconnection (OSI) layers (transport and below) existing standard profiles were recommended for transfer of digital ECG data. The second workpackage set out to agree on minimum performance requirements for the encoding of the signal. Previously published requirements were further refined in SCP-ECG. In workpackage 3 a conceptual reference model was developed for digital ECG data storage. The model was designed in modules around the concept of a relational database, which allowed various files of data to be linked via defined relations based on the entity relationship formalism. At the present time, this approach was preferred to object oriented data modelling, for which the technology is only emerging. The model is not dependent on any particular hardware and was constructed in a modular approach.
The first sub-goal of the project is to develop a universal protocol - a standard - for two-way digital ECG data transmission and communication between heterogeneous ECG computer systems. The standard shall document the logical format i.e. contents and data formats for such interchange. The standard will primarily deal with ISO/OSI level 7, the application and message content level, and will assume the existence of an underlying protocol to handle errors. However, it will include some error-checking, for simple computer-to-computer links that do not guarantee error-free transmission. The protocol shall according to CEN/CENELEC definitions and procedures for functional standards, document and list the various existing lower OSI level protocols which can be used to make the interchange between various systems possible. The standard shall enable any 2 systems to establish a link for communicating ECG signals, measurement and interpretation results, which shall be useful for clinical practice, administration and research in a comprehensive but flexible convention.
The second sub-goal, which is intimately linked to the 1st and 3rd, aims to develop recommendations for digital ECG data encoding and compression. This shall take into account not only the exactness and efficiency of signal reconstruction, but also other arguments such as simplicity of the algorithms, costs of implementation, data integrity and privacy.
The third sub-goal will aim at developing a conceptual reference model for digital ECG data storing. This will take into account the different objectives of such storage, and the technological media currently available and expected in the near future.
Such a standardization task is difficult and can only be done by means of the international collaboration of clinicians, engineers and computer specialists. The currently developed island solutions can only be broken by including contributions and expertise from different university research centers with international reputation, industry and standardization organizations. This is the approach we want to follow in the current action.
Main Deliverables :
Proceedings of the Working Conference. Functional pre-standards for storage, encoding and exchange of Electrocardiograms (ECG's).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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Coordinator
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.