ECD: Continua is active in promoting embedded medical device interoperability. Tell us about the main strategy and technologies you’re working with.
<strong>CNOSSEN:</strong> Interoperability is crucial to spur the widespread adoption of connected personal health solutions, and thus it is at the core of Continua Health Alliance’s mission to build a framework for developing, testing, and implementing interoperable, connected health devices.
Continua chose to leverage several existing industry standards for its Version One Design Guidelines, released earlier in 2009. Those standards include the Bluetooth Health Device Profile selected for wireless communication, as well as the USB Personal Health Care Devices specification for wired communication. At the application level, Continua chose the ISO/IEEE 11073 Personal Health Device family of standards. The Integrating the Health Care Enterprise Cross-Enterprise Document Reliable Interchange profile was selected as the means to establish communication between WAN devices and xHR systems. Continua also selected the Health Level 7 Personal Health Monitoring Report document format to ensure consistent data encoding.
While the industry builds upon the Version One Design Guidelines, Continua is at work defining the next generation of guidelines, with two low-power radio standards already selected. Bluetooth low-energy wireless technology is slated to enable low-power mobile devices used to track an individual’s health and fitness levels. ZigBee Health Care technology will enable fixed-location sensors and devices that can be used to monitor individuals at home or in networked environments such as assisted care facilities.
Continua, in collaboration with its member companies, is making these selections with device interoperability and streamlined integration in mind.
ECD: Is interoperability as easy as picking the right standards, or is there more to it?
CNOSSEN: With so many great ideas and concepts available to be explored, achieving success and efficiently utilizing scarce resources means honing in on relevant and market-viable capabilities. Continua’s use case selection process requires feedback and input from both device manufacturers and purchasers to ensure sufficient interest from multiple stakeholders before proceeding to standardize a capability.
Our priority on interoperability and simplicity often restricts capability and flexibility. With many stakeholders involved, converging on a rigid definition of interfaces is challenging, particularly in areas where many legacy products favor flexibility and capability.
While a single international market is a tremendous benefit to manufacturers, consumers, and the industry at large, the time and effort it takes to create international solutions is substantially greater. For example, some regions have restrictions on allowable transmission modes for radios; if a single international solution is desired, it must comply with the most stringent restrictions. There are also issues with nomenclature and demographic information. Standards must carefully balance between capabilities that must truly be global and those that can accommodate regional variances.
ECD: Given all that, what would you say is the one overriding trend that will reshape the way medical devices are developed in this new decade?
<strong>CNOSSEN:</strong> Technology is fundamentally transforming health care delivery around the world. The industry is trending toward the development of connected health care devices and solutions. This ecosystem of devices will ultimately help lower health care costs while improving patient access and outcomes. Connected health solutions also empower individuals to play a greater role in their own health and fitness by giving them the tools, knowledge, and motivation required for successful preventive measures.
As this trend continues, the importance of interoperability among these devices is paramount. People in all phases of life and at various levels of health seek the use of such personal connected devices, whether to monitor their chronic disease, manage their own wellness, or to have the ability to age independently.
Continua and its members play a pivotal role in developing a system of interoperable and connected personal health solutions to improve the quality of health care and life. With more than 220 health care and technology member companies, Continua is advancing connected health solutions that will help transform health care delivery worldwide.
Continua Health Alliance
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