Medical Device Interoperability Research

Medical Device Interoperability NIST researchers in collaboration with the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Center for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology are working to achieve the vision of interoperability by conducting research in clinical requirements as outlined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F2761 standard. This standard specifies requirements and characteristics necessary for the safe integration of medical devices in operating rooms, emergency rooms and intensive care units. The research effort includes a gap analysis of the medical device communication standard IEEE 11073 versus use case scenarios outlined in the ASTM F2761 standard. NIST software engineers are also working with the ASTM F2761 Standards Committee to improve the functional architectures embodied in the standard, and with developers of reference implementations funded through NIH grants. This work will result in testable prototypes and improved standards documents for use by industry to develop improved medical devices.