The MECIF Protocol (''Medical Computer Interface'' Protocol), is a rare communications protocol originally developed by
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
to allow external devices (e.g. computers) to communicate with certain Hewlett-Packard
patient monitors
In medicine, monitoring is the observation of a disease, condition or one or several medical parameters over time.
It can be performed by continuously measuring certain parameters by using a medical monitor (for example, by continuously measuri ...
. It is a
client–server based protocol that uses a modified
RS-232 cable to allow a client (e.g. a computer) to send commands to a server (e.g. patient monitor).
A Macintosh Client for the Hewlett-Packard Component Monitoring System The protocol can be used to retrieve vital data from patient monitors, such as ECG, blood pressure and heart-rate signals.
Ownership of the protocol has changed hands many times and was most recently supported by
Philips.
RS232 Computer Interface Programming Guide
Due to the complexity of the protocol, very few software applications currently support it.
References
{{Reflist
External links
MECIFView- Software application for acquiring data from patient monitors using the MECIF protocol
MediCollector- Software application for collecting data from patient monitors
record- Software tools for communicating using the MECIF protocol
Health standards