Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
remains popular as an image format for Web pages because the images are compact and can be
interlaced. Loading an interlaced image, which produces a melting effect on the screen as the
alternate lines of the image are loaded, is especially useful with low-bandwidth connections. Users
aren't left staring at a blank screen, waiting for the complete graphics file to download. Even though
CompuServe is no longer a contender in the online market, the standard it introduced remains.
Similarly, some standards are based on technologies developed for other purposes. For example, EPS
is based on PostScript, a device-dependent page-description language developed by Xerox and
commercialized by Adobe Systems for laser printers. Other graphics standards are so popular on
particular hardware platforms that they are supported to guarantee that those hardware devices can
access the images. For example, the BMP format is native to Microsoft Windows, and PICT is native
to Apple's Macintosh.
Interoperability entails more than simple file formats. For example, although JPEG and MPEG file
formats have helped the digital imaging market, standards for physical media and the associated
electronics are equally important. Many of these standards arose from organizations outside of the
digital imaging industry. The same situation exists in bioinformatics, where external organizations
have a major influence on standards.
Table 10-2
lists a sample of the standards organizations that either directly or indirectly affect
bioinformatics standards. Applications and devices that follow standards established by these
organizations are compatible with data and devices from multiple developers and vendors.
Conversely, those who ignore the standards do so at their own peril. The downside of ignoring
standards depends on whether they are enforced or voluntary. For example, the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) establishes standards for everything from signal levels in cables to
and from NMR machines to the data bus inside of a workstation. Because the IEEE is a self-policing
industry-sponsored organization, it's up to individual manufacturers and developers to abide by the
IEEE's published standard guidelines. If their software or hardware doesn't comply with the IEEE
standards, then these components can't be marketed as IEEE-com. In contrast, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), which deals with issues such as allowed operating frequencies
and power levels, can enforce its rulings. Failure to heed FCC standards for handling signals from an
NMR machine or a wireless network can result in fines for the developer.
Most of the standards organizations are established to make life easier, not harder, on developers
and end-users. For example, NIST is a federal technology agency that works with industry to
"develop and promote measurements, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade, and improve the quality of life". Similarly, the Uniform Code Council (UCC), which defines
standards for the bar code labels that are used to track tissue specimens, microarray cartridges, and
clinical radiographs, provides the guidelines on the use of barcodes that have helped revolutionize the
workings of a modern experimental laboratory. Its mission is to enhance interoperability through
establishing and promoting multi-industry standards for product identification and related electronic
communication.
The extent of interoperability may be global, such as worldwide communications standards, or limited
to a cluster of industries, such as healthcare. For example, in network communications, there are
virtually universal standards for the communications infrastructure, including Ethernet, Fiber
Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and x.25 (packet
switching). These standards allow computer systems around the world to exchange data with each
other, regardless of equipment manufacturer. An Ethernet-compatible device will work with an
Ethernet network anywhere in the world. Similarly, when it comes to e-mail there are worldwide
standards, including MIMI, BinHEX, ASCII, and Uuencode, that allow e-mail with an attached file to
be sent by America On-Line (AOL) executing on a Macintosh computer to be received by a
workstation running Microsoft Outlook under Microsoft Windows XP.
Similarly, in the medical industry, which encompasses computer systems dedicated to research and
dozens of specialties in clinical medicine, there are standards that allow interoperability between
devices and applications, especially clinical systems from different vendors. For example, when it
comes to combining clinical data from one application with data from another, there are several
coding systems available: the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED), the Nursing
Outcomes Classification (NOC), the European Clinical Data Exchange Standard (EUCLIDES) the World
Health Organization (WHO) Drug Dictionary, and the Medical Subject Headings (MESH) coding
