I need to implement a data acquisition system from clinical monitors at OR

[clinical]

I'm an anesthesiologist who is interested in develop a data acquisition system from OR monitors, for clinical and research purposes. I have no idea how labview works or what hardware i need. My monitors are Datex-Ohmeda and General Electric, and they have RS232 and Ethernet communication ports. Could you tell me please what software is the most appropiate to achieve it, and what hardware I need to establish a connection between the monitors and my computer? Thanks

[A.S.]

Hi,
If your monitors use RS232 or Ethernet for communication, they are serial based. This means that you can simply use your computer's RS-232 (serial/COM port). If you are using more than one monitor, you will need multiple ports. National Instruments sells 2/4/8/16 port serial devices to accomodate this. In LabVIEW, it would be a simple matter of writing to the instrument and reading from it using our serial or VISA functions. This is fairly basic programming.
Once you have read the data from the monitor, you can analyze, present and store them as you wish.

I would recommend calling your National Instruments sales representative to discuss a solution. We have several customers will applications similar to yours in the medical field. So its definitely fea
sible. If you do not have a sales rep, you can call 1-866-275-6964.

Hope this helps.

A.S.

[josborne]

This is a really old posting.  But if you want to gather data from GE or Datex-Ohmeda patient monitors, then you can use the MediCollector software.