ASTM E1467-94
Standard Specification for Transferring Digital Neurophysiological Data Between Independent Computer Systems

Standard No.

ASTM E1467-94

Release Date

2000

Published By

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

Status

Be replaced

Replace By

ASTM E1467-94(2000)

Latest

ASTM E1467-94(2000)

Scope

1.1 This specification covers transmission of digitally recorded electrophysiologic waveform data and related textual annotations between laboratories or clinics, or between computer systems in a given laboratory or clinic. This includes all electroneurophysiology (EN) studies such as electroencephalograms (EEG) and magnetoencephalograms (MEG), polysomnograms (PSG) and multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT), evoked potentials (EP) and evoked magnetic fields (EMF), event-related potentials (ERP), electromyograms (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS), and many others in either a clinical or research environment. Although this specification is concerned primarily with electroneurophysiology, the methods used for encoding waveform and related data would be suitable for other tests involving waveforms, such as electrocardiograms (EKG), vascular/intracranial pressure monitoring, oximetry, or gastrointestinal motility studies. 1.2 This specification defines a format for waveform data based on Specification E 1238 (developed in cooperation with HL7 (Health Industry Level 7)), with extensions to support the transmission of multichannel time-series waveforms. 1.3 This specification may be applied either to two-way transmission of data over mediumto high-speed data communication networks, or one-way transmission of data by recording on and later playback from magnetic or optical digital storage media. It defines the blocked stream of data, called a message, which is transmitted over a network connection or recorded on a storage medium. It does not define the hardware or software network protocols or storage media formats needed for message transmission (for example, see ISO 8072), or the formats used to store data internally by the sender or receiver. 1.4 Recognizing, however, that some standardization in storage media format and network protocols would help to promote exchange of data between computer systems with diverse hardware and software, it is suggested that readily available universal media and formats be used, when possible, for data exchange. An example suitable for transmission of large amounts of digital waveform data would be the use of industry-standard magnetic tape or digital audio tape (DAT), with ANSI standard tape labels, employing variable length blocked records (lines) with a maximum block size of 4092 bytes. Individual lines within the blocks would be terminated by carriage return characters, Code 13 in the American Standard Codes for Information Interchange (ASCII). As another example, for the transmission of moderate amounts of digital waveform data, floppy disks written in MS-DOS (1)2 format (or another commonly used directory and file structure) would be appropriate; the data would be contained within a single sequential file on the disk, with lines within the file delimited by carriage return (ASCII 13) or carriage return followed by linefeed (ASCII 10) characters. An example of network hardware and software suitable for transmission of waveform data would be Ethernet (2) and the TCP/IP (3) protocol. 1.5 The major topics can be found in the following sections. Section Significance and Use 3 General Approach 3.1 Levels of Implementation 3.2 Direction of Information Exchange 3.3 Types of Communication Supported 3.4 Description of Implementation 3.5 Message General Content Considerations 4 Relation to Specification E 1238 and HL7 Standards 4.1 Extensions to Specification E 1238 and HL7 Standard Formats 4.2 Specifying Information Categories in OBR and Q Segments 4.2.1 Specific Code Table Identifiers in Coded Entries 4.2.2 Maximum Field Lengths in OBX Segments 4.2.3 Message Acknowledgment (MSA) Segment 4.2.4 Subject Filter and Qualifiers Field in Q Segments 4.2.5 Message Characteristics and Terminology 4.3 Characters 4.3.1 Segments 4.3.2 Fields 4.3.3 Delimiters 4.3.4 Case Sensitivity 4.3.5 Field Lengths 4.3.6 Maximum Line Length 4.3.7 Not Present and Null Values 4.3.8 Units of Measure 4.3.9 Data Types 4.4 Address Data (AD) 4.4.1 Coded Entry Data (CE) 4.4.2 Composite ID with Check Digit Data (CK) 4.4.3 Composite Miscellaneous Data (CM) 4.4.4 1 This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E-31 on Healthcare Informatics and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E31.16 on Interchange of Electrophysiologic Waveforms and Signals. Current edition approved July 15, 1994. Published December 1994. Originally published as E 1467 – 92. Last previous edition E 1467 – 92. 2 The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list of references at the end of this specification. 1 Copyright © ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States. Composite ID and Name Data (CNA) 4.4.5 Composite Quantity and Units Data (CQ) 4.4.6 Identification String Data (ID) 4.4.7 Money Data (MO) 4.4.8 Numeric Data (NM) 4.4.9 Person Name Data (PN) 4.4.10 Reference Pointer Data (RP) 4.4.11 String Data (ST) 4.4.12 Telephone Number Data (TN) 4.4.13 Time Stamp Data (TS) 4.4.14 Text Data (TX) 4.4.15 Segment Types 4.5 Message Header Segment (H) 4.5.1 Message Acknowledgment Segment (MSA) 4.5.2 Test/Observation Master Segments (OM1–OM6) 4.5.3 Patient Identifying Segment (P) 4.5.4 Billing Segments (GT1 and IN1) 4.5.5 Order Segment (OBR) 4.5.6 Result Segment (OBX) 4.5.7 Error Checking Segment (E) 4.5.8 Comment Segment (C) 4.5.9 Request Results Segment (Q) 4.5.10 Scientific Segment (S) 4.5.11 Message Terminator Segment (L) 4.5.12 Overall Message Logical Structure 4.6 Test/Observation Identifiers 4.7 Descriptions of Fields in Result Segments 5 Segment Type ID 5.2 Result Segment Sequence Number 5.3 Value Type 5.4 Test/Observation ID 5.5 Observation SubID 5.6 Observation Value (Result) 5.7 Units of Measure 5.8 Reference Range 5.9 Abnormal/Change Flags 5.10 Probability 5.11 Nature of Abnormality Testing 5.12 Observation Result Status 5.13 Date/Time of Last Change in Normals/Units 5.14 User-Defined Access Checks 5.15 Physiologic Observation Date/Time 5.16 Producer ID 5.17 Responsible Observer 5.18 Result Segments Needed for Waveform Transmission/Display 6 ELC Category 6.2 Defining Actual Electrodes/Transducers 6.2.1 Electrode Number and Name 6.2.2 Electrode Location 6.2.3 Electrode/Transducer Attributes 6.2.4 Electrode Coordinate Number 1 6.2.5 Additional Electrode Coordinates 6.2.6 Standard Electrode Names 6.2.7 Defining Derived Electrodes 6.2.8 Electrode Number and Name 6.2.9 Electrode Location 6.2.10 Derived Electrode/Transducer Type 6.2.11 Electrode 1 Multiplier and Name 6.2.12 Additional Multipliers and Names 6.2.13 MTG Category 6.3 Montage Number and Name 6.3.1 Maximum Number of Channels 6.3.2 CHN Category 6.4 Channel Number and Name 6.4.1 Electrode 1 and 2 Names 6.4.2 Channel Sensitivity and Units 6.4.3 Channel Calibration Parameters 6.4.4 Channel Sampling Frequency 6.4.5 Minimum and Maximum Data Values 6.4.6 Filter 1 6.4.7 Additional Filters 6.4.8 TIM Category 6.5 Time at Start of Epoch 6.5.5 Sampling Interval 6.5.6 Duration of Epoch 6.5.7 Transmitted Data Format 6.5.8 Time from Reference Mark to Start of Epoch 6.5.9 Averaging Method 6.5.10 Identification of Epochs Selected for Averaging 6.5.11 Number of Epochs Averaged 6.5.12 Number of Epochs Rejected 6.5.13 WAV Category 6.6 Channel-Multiplexed Decimal Waveform Data Formats 6.6.1 Channel Block Decimal Waveform Data Format 6.6.2 Nonstandard Formats for Waveform Data 6.6.3 Waveform Data Acquired at Differing Sampling Frequencies 6.7 Highest Sampling Frequency Method 6.7.1 Multiple Montage Method 6.7.2 Result Segments Used for Annotation of the Waveform Data 7 DST Category 7.2 First Location Identifier 7.2.1 Second Location Identifier 7.2.2 Distance Value 7.2.3 STM Category 7.3 Stimulus Status 7.3.1 Stimulus Type and Electrode Names 7.3.2 Stimulus Location Identifier 7.3.3 Stimulus Rate 7.3.4 Stimulus Duration 7.3.5 Stimulus Intensity 7.3.6 Stimulus Intensity Units 7.3.7 Stimulus Frequency or Color 7.3.8 Visual Stimulus Contrast 7.3.9 Visual Stimulus Pattern Type 7.3.10 Visual Stimulus Pattern Element Size or Spatial Period 7.3.11 Size of Visual Field Stimulated 7.3.12 TCM Category 7.4 MED Category 7.5 DEV Category 7.6 SER Category 7.7 CNP Category 7.8 ANA Category 7.9 Analysis Identification 7.9.4 Analysis Parameters 7.9.5 SEL Category 7.10 Montage Number 7.10.3 Montage Function 7.10.4 Result Segments Used to Transmit Reports and Interpretation 8 Null Category 8.2 ANT Category 8.3 IMP Category 8.4 GDT Category 8.5 MDT Category 8.6 ADT Category 8.7 REC Category 8.8 Two-way Communication Between Systems 9 Communication Capabilities 9.1 Communication Channels 9.2 Electronic Ordering of Tests 9.3 Downloading of Equipment Settings 9.4 Request (Query) Functions 9.5 System Status, Configuration, and Capability Queries 9.5.10 Master Database Search Requests 9.5.12 Requests for Orders 9.5.14 Requests for Equipment Settings 9.5.16 Requests for Results 9.5.18 Remote Control and Status Requests 9.5.20 Error Reporting in Two-Way Communication 9.6

ASTM E1467-94 Referenced Document

• ASTM E1238 Standard Specification for Transferring Clinical Observations Between Independent Computer Systems
• ISO 2022:1986 Information processing; ISO 7-bit and 8-bit coded character sets; Code extension techniques
• ISO 2955:1983 Information processing; Representation of SI and other units in systems with limited character sets
• ISO 4217:1990 Codes for the representation of currencies and funds
• ISO 8072:1986 Information processing systems; Open Systems Interconnection; Transport service definition

ASTM E1467-94 history

• 1970 ASTM E1467-94(2000)
• 2000 ASTM E1467-94 Standard Specification for Transferring Digital Neurophysiological Data Between Independent Computer Systems