Extensible Communications Protocol Interface for Healthcare Data Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
In healthcare computing environments, there is a substantial effort required to design, implement, and maintain software that acquires and communicates a variety of physiological data across multiple devices with unique data subsets, and this effort increases when data types and definitions evolve over time, posing a risk to software reliability and patient care.
Innovation Solution
A communications protocol interface with extensible functionality, configurable through XML directives and generated by a software generator program, allows each network element to communicate a unique subset of data, accommodating a large and varied set of defined data, including physiological and healthcare-related data, by dividing the scope of communication based on the element's function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a communications protocol interface is designed to accommodate a large and varied set of physiological data across multiple devices, then the system's adaptability and versatility improve, but the device complexity and difficulty of maintenance increase
Solution Approach 1:
The communications protocol interface is divided into a core set of functionality that handles common physiological data types and an extensible set that accommodates device-specific variations. This segmentation allows the core protocol to remain simple while enabling customization through extensions, thereby maintaining adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol interface is designed to be dynamically configurable through XML directives that define data types, elements, and attributes. This dynamic configuration allows the system to adapt to different physiological data requirements without requiring changes to the underlying protocol structure, reducing maintenance complexity while preserving versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the communications protocol is made extensible to accommodate evolving data types and definitions, then the system's adaptability improves, but the software reliability and consistency may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
XML directives are used to pre-define data types, elements, and attributes before runtime. This preliminary configuration ensures that all extensible functionality adheres to a consistent schema, maintaining reliability while allowing adaptability. The pre-defined structure prevents arbitrary modifications that could compromise system consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The XML directive system acts as an intermediary layer between the core protocol and device-specific implementations. This intermediary enforces consistency rules while allowing customization, ensuring that extensible functionality maintains reliability by mediating between standardization requirements and adaptability needs.
3Manufacturing precision
If software is customized for each device's unique data subset, then communication precision improves, but the effort and time required for design, implementation, and maintenance increase
Solution Approach 1:
The core communications protocol interface is designed as a universal foundation that can handle multiple physiological data types across different devices. This multi-functional core reduces the need for custom software development for each device while maintaining precision through device-specific XML configurations that define unique data subsets.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of customizing software structure for each device, the system uses parameter changes through XML directives to define device-specific data types, elements, and attributes. This approach maintains communication precision by allowing detailed configuration while reducing time investment by avoiding structural software modifications.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the protocol handles a large volume and variety of physiological data, then the system's versatility improves, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring data consistency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual data consistency verification with automated XML schema validation. The XML directives define the expected structure and types of physiological data, and the generator program automatically validates data consistency against these definitions, reducing the difficulty of detecting and measuring consistency across diverse data types.
Solution Approach 2:
The XML directive system serves as an intermediary that standardizes the representation of diverse physiological data. By mediating between various data sources and the core protocol, it enables automated consistency checking through schema validation, reducing the difficulty of verifying data integrity across a large volume and variety of physiological measurements.
Data Source
AI summary
A communications protocol interface is configured as being divisible into a core portion and an extensible portion. The extensible portion of the communications protocol interface is further configured to be customized in scope so that each network element can communicate a unique and optionally small, subset of actual interoperable data that corresponds to at least a portion of a larger defined data set. A software generator program is configured to generate a set of extensible source code that operates upon the subset of actual data and that directs the execution of the extensible portion of the communications protocol interface for a particular network element.