ASTM communication

protocol
QUANTA Link

ASTM communication protocol

Index

1.

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3

2.

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 3

3.

LOW LEVEL PROTOCOL .......................................................................................................... 3

4.

PHYSICAL LAYER ................................................................................................................... 3

4.1.

DATA LINK LAYER.........................................................................................................................3

4.1.1.
4.1.2.
4.1.3.
4.1.4.
4.1.5.

5.

Establishment Phase .........................................................................................................4

Transfer Phase .................................................................................................................5
Termination Phase ............................................................................................................5
Error Recovery ..................................................................................................................5
Restrictions ......................................................................................................................6

HIGH LEVEL PROTOCOL........................................................................................................ 6

5.1.
5.2.

MESSAGE SPECIAL CHARACTERS ........................................................................................................7

DATA RECORD USAGE .....................................................................................................................7

ANEX I.

MESSAGES EXAMPLES .............................................................................................. 14

5.2.1.
5.2.2.
5.2.3.
5.2.4.
5.2.5.
5.2.6.
5.2.7.
5.2.8.

Message Header Record ....................................................................................................7

Patient Identifying Record..................................................................................................8
Test Order Record........................................................................................................... 10
Result Record ................................................................................................................. 11
Comment Record ............................................................................................................ 12
Scientific Record ............................................................................................................. 13
Manufacturer Information Record ..................................................................................... 13
Message Terminator Record ............................................................................................. 13

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ASTM communication protocol

1.

Introduction

This document describes the standard Instrument Interface for Quanta Link. The interface is based in ASTM
standards E 1381 91 and E 1394 91. Covers low level protocol (physical and data link layer) and high level
protocol.
The following lines are all the available messages between Quanta Link and the instrument:

2.

References

3.

New Requests from HOST to Quanta Link. (T requests)

Results from Quanta Link to HOST.

Low level Protocol: As specified in ASTM standard E 1381 91

High level Protocol: As specified in ASTM standard E 1394 91

Low level protocol

This section provides information on the low-level implementation of the ASTM low-level protocol in Quanta
Link communication.

4.

Physical Layer

Quanta Link allows asynchronous Network connections via TCP/IP Sockets, acting as a server. The
communication is permanent and not only established when there are messages to send.
Quanta Link will be listening in a specific IP address and Port. The IP address and Port will be defined during
the phase of implantation of the system in the specific customer. It is possible to test the system via Internet.

4.1.

Data Link Layer

The data link layer uses a character-oriented protocol to send message between directly connected systems.
The data link mode of operation is one-way transfer of information with alternate supervision. Information
flows in one direction at a time. It is a simplex stop-and-wait protocol.
It specifies procedures for link connection and release (establish which system sends and which receives),
delimiting and synchronism (framing of data and recognition of frames), sequence control (sequential order of
information across the connection), error detection and error recovery (by retransmitting defective frames or
returning the link to a neutral state).
There are three phases to assure the actions of sender and receiver are coordinated. The three phases are
establishment, transfer and termination.

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ASTM communication protocol

4.1.1.

Establishment Phase

After the sender determines the data link is in neutral state, it transmits the <ENQ> transmission control
character to the intended receiver.
Upon receiving the <ENQ>, the receiver prepares to receive information. All other characters are ignored. It
replies with the <ACK> transmission control character signifying it is ready. At this point the establishment
phase ends and the transfer phase begins.
A receiver that cannot immediately receive information replies with the <NAK> transmission control character.
Upon receiving <NAK>, the sender must wait at least 10 seconds before transmitting another <ENQ>.
In case of contention (both systems simultaneously transmit an <ENQ>) Quanta Link has priority to transmit
information.

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ASTM communication protocol

4.1.2.

Transfer Phase

During the transfer phase, the sender transmits messages to the receiver. Messages are sent in frames that
contain a maximum of 247 characters (7 for control and 240 for the message itself). Messages longer than
240 characters are divided between two or more frame. So there are two type of frames, Intermediate and
End.

Each frame starts with the <STX> character and a frame number that is a digit ranging from 0 to
7. The frame number begins with 1 with the first frame and it is incremented by one for every new
frame, rolling over to 0 after 7. This number permits the receiver to distinguish between new and
retransmitted frames.
The checksum permits the receiver to detect a defective frame, and is encoded as two characters
that are sent after the <ETB> or <ETX>. The computation for the checksum does not include
<STX>, the checksum characters, or the trailing <CR> and <LF>. Each other characters are
added to the checksum modulo 256. The checksum is an integer represented by eight bits that can
be considered as two groups of four bits. Each group is converted to the ASCII character of the
hexadecimal representation. The two characters are transmitted as the checksum.
After a frame is sent, the sender stops the transmission until a reply is received. The receiver can
reply with:
<ACK> that signifies that the last frame was received successfully
<NAK> that signifies that the last frame was not successfully
<EOT> that signifies that the last frame was received successfully but the receiver is requesting to
stop the transmitting. Its not mandatory to stop the transmission, but if the sender chooses to honor
the receiver interrupt request, it must first enter the termination phase to return the data link to the
neutral state, giving the receiver an opportunity to enter the establishment phase and become a
sender. The original sender must not enter the establishment phase for at least 15 seconds or until
the receiver has sent a message and returned the data link to the neutral state.

4.1.3.

Termination Phase

The termination phase returns the data link to the neutral state. The sender notifies the receiver that all
messages have been sent.
The sender transmits the <EOT> control character and then regards the data link to be in a neutral state.
Upon receiving <EOT>, the receiver also regards the data link to be in neutral state.

4.1.4.
4.1.4.1.

Error Recovery
Defective Frames

The receiver reply <NAK> for invalid frames. Upon receiving a <NAK> the sender increments a
retransmission counter and retransmits the last frame with the same frame number. If this counter shows a
single frame was sent and not accepted six times, the sender must abort the message by proceeding to the
termination phase.
4.1.4.2.

Timeouts

Timers provide a method for recovery if the communication line or other device fails to respond.

Timeouts during the establishment phase:

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ASTM communication protocol

The sender sets a timer when transmitting the <ENQ>. If a reply of <ACK>, <NAK>, or <ENQ> is
not received within 15 seconds, a timeout occurs. After a timeout, the sender enters the termination
phase.
In case of contention (both systems simultaneously transmit an <ENQ>), if the computer (as
receiver) sets a timer. If an <ENQ> is not received within 20 seconds, a timeout occurs. After a
timeout, the receiver regards the line to be in neutral state.

Timeouts during the transfer phase:

The sender sets a timer when transmitting the last character of a frame. If a reply is not received
within 15 seconds a timeout occurs. After a timeout, the sender enters the termination phase.
The receiver sets a timer when first entering the transfer phase or when replying to a frame. If a
frame or <EOT> is not received within 30 seconds, a timeout occurs. After a timeout, the receiver
regards the line to be in neutral state.

4.1.5.

Restrictions

The data link protocol is designed for sending character based message text. Restrictions are placed on which
characters may appear in the message text. The restrictions make it simpler for senders and receivers to
recognize replies and frame delimiters. Additional characters are restricted to avoid interfering with software
controls for devices such as multiplexes.
A <LF> character is not permitted to appear in the message text; it can appear only as the last character of a
frame.
None of the ten transmission control characters, the <LF> format effect or control character, or four device
control characters may appear in message text. The restricted characters are: <SOH>, <STX>, <ETX>,
<EOT>, <ENQ>, <ACK>, <DLE>, <NAK>, <SYN>, <ETB>, <LF>, <DC1>, <DC2>, <DC3>, and <DC4>.

5.

HIGH LEVEL PROTOCOL

This standard covers the two-way digital transmission of remote requests and results between Quanta Link
and another system. This standard specifies the conventions for structuring the content of the message and
for representing the data elements within those structures.
Message may contain one or more request/results for one or more patient. Tests may be requested as groups
of many individual tests. These groups are referred to as batteries
Messages consist of a hierarchy of records of various types. Records at level zero contain information
pertaining to the sender identification and completion of transmission. Records at level one of the hierarchy
contain information about individual patients. Records at level two contain information about test order
requests and specimens. Records at level three contain information about test results.

The smallest element of information in any record is the field.

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ASTM communication protocol

5.1.

Message special characters

All data shall be represented as eight bit values, within the range (0-255). Within text data fields, only the
ASCII characters 32-126 and the undefined characters 128-254 are permitted. Furthermore, all characters
used as delimiters in a particular transmission are excluded from the permitted range. For our purpose, the
following delimiters will be always used:

Delimiter

Character

Record delimiter

Carriage return (ASCII 13)

Field delimiter

Vertical bar (|)

Repeat delimiter

Backslash (\)

Component delimiter

Caret (^)

Escape delimiter

Ampersand (&)

A null value for a field does not overwrite existing data in the receiving system. A field containing only a pair
of double quotes (ASCII 32) should be treated as an instruction to the receiver that the existing contents
pertaining to that field definition should be deleted.

5.2.

Data record usage

Data shall be exchanged in records of different types. The Following is a list of records when transmitting:

from HOST to Quanta Link:

1. Header Record (H)
2. Patient Information Record (P)
3. Test Order Record (O)
4. Terminator Record (L)

from Quanta Link to HOST:

1. Header Record (H)
2. Patient Information Record (P)
3. Test Order Record (O)
4. Result Record (R)
5. Results Comment Record (C)
6. Terminator Record (L)

Each record is introduced by field identifying the record type, and terminated by carriage return.

5.2.1.

Message Header Record

Is a level 0 record and must always be the first record in the transmission. It contains identifier of both the
sender and the receiver.
ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Delimiters Definition

Always the standard "|\^&"

Message Control ID

Ignored

Access Password

Ignored

Sender Name or ID

Ignored when received.

Quanta Link always sends
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ASTM communication protocol

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

"Quanta Link"
6

Sender Street Address

Ignored

Reserved Field

Ignored

Sender Phone Number

Ignored

Characteristics of Sender

Ignored

10

Receiver ID

Ignored when received.

Quanta Link always sends the
text "DMS"

11

Comment or Special Ins

Ignored

12

Processing ID

Always assumed "P" when

received. Quanta Link always
sends "P"

13

Version Number

Ignored when received.

Quanta Link always sends the
text "1.0"

14

Message Date and Time

In standard format
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS

Example:
H|\^&|||Quanta Link|||||DMS||P|1.0|19990213134530<CR>

5.2.2.

Patient Identifying Record

Is a level 1 record and each line of the patient record shall begin with a record type and end with carriage
return.
ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Sequence Number

Sequence number of the patient

transmitted.

Practice Assigned Patient ID

Request Label

Laboratory Assigned Patient ID

External ID

Patient ID No. 3

NTS^SSN^IDENTITYCARD

Patient Name

Mothers Maiden Name

Birthdate

Birthdate (YYYYMMDDhhmmss)

Patient Sex

M for male, F for female or U for

unknown

10

Patient Race

11

Patient Address

12

Reserved Field

Surname^Name
Ignored

Ignored

Adress^City^State
Ignored
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ASTM communication protocol

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

13

Patient Telephone

Telephone

14

Attending Physician ID

Doctor

15

Special Field 1

Admitted o Cited o Urgent

16

Special Field 2

Status Patient

17

Patient Height

Ignored

18

Patient Weight

Ignored

19

Patient Diagnosis

20

Patient Medications

Ignored

21

Patient Diet

Ignored

22

Practice Field No. 1

Ignored

23

Practice Field No. 2

24

Admission and Discharge

Dates

Ignored

25

Admission Status

Ignored

26

Location

27

Nature of Alt.Diag.Code &

Class

Ignored

28

Alternative Diagnostic Code

and Classification

Ignored

29

Patient Religion

Ignored

30

Marital Status

Ignored

31

Isolation Status

Ignored

32

Language

Ignored

33

Hospital Service

34

Hospital Institution

35

Dosage Category

Diagnosis

Comments

Location

ServiceID
*

DestinationCode
Ignored

Example:
P|1|00095020|28269|123456^1234567^12345678|SURNAME^NAME||19701010120000|M||ADRESS^CITY^
STATE||6297471 71|Doctor 1|ICU||||d1||||comments|||Location|||||||Service 1||<CR>

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ASTM communication protocol

5.2.3.

Test Order Record

Is a level 2 record and defines the attributes of a particular request for a clinical instrument's services and
contains all specimen information
ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Sequence Number

Sequence number of the test

order transmitted.

Specimen ID

Request Label

Instrument Specimen ID

Universal Test ID

Ignored
*

^^^TestCode for ELISA tests

^^^TestCode^Dillution for IFA
tests

Priority

R / S (Routine / Stat)

Requested Date and Time

Request Date
(YYYYMMDDhhmmss)

Collection Date and Time

Ignored

Collection End Time

Ignored

10

Collection Volume

Ignored

11

Collector ID

Ignored

12

Action Code

Action: C for Cancel

Test/Request, or A for Add Test
For Cancel Request: not send
field 5 and not send record R.

13

Danger Code

Ignored

14

Relevant Clinical Info

Ignored

15

Date/Time Specimen Received

Ignored

16

Specimen Descriptor

Ignored

17

Ordering Physician

18

Physicians Phone Number

19

User field Number1

20

User field Number2

Ignored

21

Laboratory field No 1

Ignored

22

Laboratory field No 2

Ignored

23

Date/Time

Ignored

24

Instrument Charge to Computer

Ignored

25

Instrument Section ID

Ignored

26

Report Types

Doctor
Ignored

Collector Center

F for Final Result (Facultative

Validation or Test Sent status)
X for Cancel if Action Code = C.
(F for Transmission to Quanta
Link; X sent from Quanta Link to
instrument)
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ASTM communication protocol

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

27

Reserved Field

Ignored

28

Location or ward of speciment

Ignored

29

Nosocomial infection flag

Ignored

30

Specimen Service

31

Specimen Institution

Service
Ignored

Examples:
O|1|90015041||^^^AFOL|R|20071127111010|20071127120000||||A|||||Doctor1||Collection
center|||||||F||||Service1|<CR>
O|2|90015041||^^^C1^1:20|R|20071127111010|20071127120000||||A|||||Doctor1||Collection center
2|||||||F||||Service1|<CR>

5.2.4.

Result Record

Is a level 3 record sent by Quanta Link to notify results to the host. For both ELISA and IFA tests, the test
result (and interpretation) shall be informed. In IFA tests, additional result records can be sent to notify the
result and patterns found for each of the dillutions performed to the sample.
ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Sequence Number

Sequence number of the result record transmitted.

Universal Test ID

For ELISA and IFA global results:

^^^TESTCODE
For dilutions results:
^^^DILLUTION^^^DILLUTION_INDEX
For dilutions patterns:
^^^PATTERN CODE^PATTERN DESCRIPTION^^^

Data Measurement

For ELISA and IFA global results:

Result
For Dilutions:
RESULTCODE^RESULTDESC
(Ignored for Dilution patterns)

Units

For ELISA and IFA global results:

Interpretation
(Ignored for Dilution patterns)

Reference Ranges

Result Abnormal Flags

Ignored
*

Defines the pathology status of the result (used for

ELISA and IFA global results). Values shall be:
L for below low normal.
H for above high normal.
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ASTM communication protocol

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Transmitted
to Host

Description

LL for below panic normal

HH for above panic normal.
8

Nature of Abnormality
testing

Ignored

Result Status

F for FINAL RESULTS

10

Date of Change

GETTIMESTAMP (YYYYMMDDhhmmss)

11

Operator
Identification

Ignored

12

Date/Time Test
Started

Ignored

13

Date/Time Test
Completed

Ignored

14

Instrument
Identification

Ignored

Examples:
Sending an ELISA result:
R|1|^^^ELISA|result 2|Interpretation||||F|20091126155243|admin|

Sending an IFA result with dilutions. Note the Order Test record to identify dilution results belonging to the
same test:
R|1|^^^HEP2|result 2|Interpretation||||F|20091126155243|admin|
O|2|12345677^1^||^^^HEP2|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^Dillution^^^1:80|2^dilution_res 2|||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|2|^^^HOM^Homogeneous^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|3|^^^SPE^Speckled^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
O|3|12345677^2^||^^^HEP2|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^Dillution^^^1:160|4^dilution_res 4|||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|2|^^^SPE^Speckled^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||

5.2.5.

Comment Record

Comment record of test result.

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Sequence Number

Sequence number of the request

information record transmitted.

Comment Source

Comment text

Ignored
*

Comment
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ASTM communication protocol

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Comment type

Description
Ignored

Example:
C|1||Comments||<CR>

5.2.6.

Scientific Record

The Scientific Record is ignored when received by the Quanta Link and is not created or sent. Record type ID
S.

5.2.7.

Manufacturer Information Record

The Manufacturer Information Record is ignored when received by the Quanta Link and is not created or sent.
Record type ID M.

5.2.8.

Message Terminator Record

This is the last record in the message. A header record may be transmitted after this record signifying the
start of a second message.

ASTM
Field

ASTM Field Name

Received
from Host

Transmitted
to Host

Description

Record Type

Sequence Number

Sequence number of the

message terminator record
transmitted.

Terminator Code

Ignored

Example:
L|1|N<CR>

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ASTM communication protocol

ANEX I. Messages examples
New Test Requesting Example (from HOST to Quanta Link)
H|\^&|||HOST|||||HOST||P|1.0|20071127120338<CR>
P|1|90015042|1002|NTS1002^SSN1002^IDCARD1002|SMITH^JOHN||19701010120000|F||1002
STREET^TOWN^REGION ||931234567|Doctor 1|ICU||||d1||||COMMENTS|||REQUEST
LOCATION|||||||Service 1||<CR>
O|1|90015042||^^^AFOL|R|20071127120000|20071127120000||||A|||||Doctor 1|||||||||F||||Service
1|<CR>
O|2|90015042||^^^HEP2^1:80|R|20071127120000|20071127120000||||A|||||Doctor 1|||||||||F||||Service
1|<CR>
O|3|90015042||^^^ HEP2^1:320|R|20071127120000|20071127120000||||A|||||Doctor 1|||||||||F||||Service
1|<CR>
L|1|N<CR>

Result Record Example (from Quanta Link to HOST)

H|\^&|||Quanta Link|||||DMS||P|1.0|20091126165508
P|1|12345677|10007|10007^10007^10007|10007
SMITH^JOHN||19610716120000|M||10007^City10007^CHICAGO||10007|||AE|||0||||1212
O|1|12345677||^^^HEP2|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^HEP2|dilution_result2|Interpretation||||F|20091126155243|admin|
O|2|12345677^1^||^^^HEP2|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^Dillution^^^1:80|2^dilution_result2|||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|2|^^^HOM^Homogeneous^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|3|^^^SPE^Speckled^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
O|3|12345677^2^||^^^HEP2|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^Dillution^^^1:160|4^dilution_result4|||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
R|2|^^^FSPE^Fine Speckled^^^||||||F|20091126155243|admin|||
O|4|12345677||^^^UR|R|20091125120000|||||A|||||||99|||||||F|||||
R|1|^^^UR|123|mg/dL|10.0 - 50.0|HH||F|20091126155154|admin|||
L|1|N

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ASTM communication protocol

Inova Diagnostics, Inc. is a company of the Werfen Group

QUANTA Link is property of Inova Diagnostics, Inc.
All brands named in this document
belong to their respective owners
QUANTA Link ASTM communication protocol

Version 1.0

Inova Diagnostics, Inc. 2011 All rights reserved

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