Integrated content and format checking for processing of SCP ECG records

Interoperability between medical devices and between host systems is a key requirement for the establishment of an electronic patient health record. A prerequisite for interoperability is standardisation of message formats and of messaging protocols. We report on the development of testing tools for compliance checks of the SCP-ECG interchange format with the specifications of the CEN standard prENV1064. The presented tools are important for development as well as compliance testing of SCP formatted ECG records. They are necessary to promote the interoperability of important noninvasively gathered cardiac function information. This information is increasingly to be integrated into the electronic patient health record and to be interchanged between the various health care providers. Practical tests in our laboratory provided useful information for our own and external SCP implementations.