ASTM E2185-01

Standard Specification for Transferring Digital Voice Data Between Independent Digital Dictation Systems and Workstations (Withdrawn 2010)

ABSTRACT
This specification covers the format and content of digitally recorded voice data files and their identifying data. The object is to enable transfer between independent digital dictation systems and workstations, regardless of manufacturer and protocols for ensuring reliability. This specification is specifically targeted for the definition of a message encapsulating both the data elements and actual voice file encoded in a standard compression algorithm. The digital voice file format is Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). Different digital voice file format shall be: PCM; ITU/CCITT A Law; ITU/CCITT mu Law; OKI ADPCM; IMA (DVI) ADPCM; TrueSpeech; and GSM 610. This specification is specifically targeted for the definition of a message encapsulating both the data elements and actual voice file encoded in a standard compression algorithm.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers the format and content of digitally recorded voice data files and their identifying data. The object is to enable transfer between independent digital dictation systems and workstations, regardless of manufacturer and protocols for ensuring reliability. This specification does not cover the transmission of voice data files and their identifying data within digital dictation systems and workstations or their transcription into text files.
1.2 This specification may be applied to either the transmission of data over medium- to high-speed data communication networks or to the transmission of data by recording on, and later playing back from, magnetic or optical digital storage media. It defines the blocked stream of data, called a message, which is transmitted over a network connection or recorded on a storage medium. It does not define the hardware or software network protocols or storage media formats needed for message transmission (for example, see ISO 8072-1986) or the formats used to store data internally by the sender or receiver.
1.3 Since some standardization in storage media format and network protocols would help to promote the exchange of data between computer systems with diverse hardware and software, it is suggested that readily available universal media and formats be used for data exchange when possible.
1.4 Any considerations regarding the security of the digital dictation file or its components as defined herein are outside the scope of this specification. Such measures as encryption of files (either at rest or in transit), authentication of users or originators, assignment and control of file access permissions, and backup or recovery of files which may be necessary to meet institutional policies or governmental regulations are not addressed in this specification. Guidance for security of dictated health records can be found in Guide E 1902.
WITHDRAWN RATIONALE
This specification covers the format and content of digitally recorded voice data files and their identifying data. The object is to enable transfer between independent digital dictation systems and workstations, regardless of manufacturer and protocols for ensuring reliability. This specification does not cover the transmission of voice data files and their identifying data within digital dictation systems and workstations or their transcription into text files.
Formerly under the jurisdiction of Committee E31 on Healthcare Informatics, this specificaton was withdrawn in 2010 in accordance with section 10.5.3.1 of the Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees, which requires that standards shall be updated by the end of the eighth year since the last approval date.

General Information

• Status: Withdrawn
• Publication Date: 09-Dec-2001
• Withdrawal Date: 31-Jan-2010
• ICS: 35.040 - Information coding
• Technical Committee: E31 - Healthcare Informatics
• Drafting Committee: E31.15 - Healthcare Information Capture and Documentation

Standards Content (Sample)

NOTICE: This standard has either been superseded and replaced by a new version or withdrawn.
Contact ASTM International (www.astm.org) for the latest information.
An American National Standard
Designation: E2185 – 01
Standard Specification for
Transferring Digital Voice Data Between Independent Digital
Dictation Systems and Workstations
This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2185; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
1. Scope 2. Referenced Documents
1.1 This specification covers the format and content of 2.1 ASTM Standards:
digitally recorded voice data files and their identifying data. E1762 Guide for Electronic Authentication of Health Care
The object is to enable transfer between independent digital Information
dictation systems and workstations, regardless of manufacturer E1902 Specification for Management of the Confidentiality
and protocols for ensuring reliability. This specification does and Security of Dictation, Transcription, and Transcribed
not cover the transmission of voice data files and their Health Records
identifying data within digital dictation systems and worksta- E1985 Guide for User Authentication and Authorization
tions or their transcription into text files. E2084 Specification forAuthentication of Healthcare Infor-
1.2 This specification may be applied to either the transmis- mation Using Digital Signatures
sion of data over medium- to high-speed data communication 2.2 ANSI Standards:
networks or to the transmission of data by recording on, and X3.172-1990 Dictionary of Information Processing
later playing back from, magnetic or optical digital storage X3.4-1986 Coded Character Sets—American National
media. It defines the blocked stream of data, called a message, Standard Code for Information Exchange (7 bit ASCII)
which is transmitted over a network connection or recorded on 2.3 ISO Standard:
a storage medium. It does not define the hardware or software ISO 8072-1986 Network Standards
network protocols or storage media formats needed for mes- 2.4 Other Standards:
sage transmission (for example, see ISO 8072-1986)orthe Health Level Seven Standard (HL7), Version 2.3.1
formats used to store data internally by the sender or receiver. Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) Standard
1.3 Since some standardization in storage media format and ITU G7.11
network protocols would help to promote the exchange of data
3. Terminology
between computer systems with diverse hardware and soft-
ware, it is suggested that readily available universal media and 3.1 Definitions:
3.1.1 degradation of sound quality—in speech storage and
formats be used for data exchange when possible.
1.4 Any considerations regarding the security of the digital reproduction, loss of intelligibility, reduced signal quality, and
reduced ability to identify the speaker. The sound quality is a
dictationfileoritscomponentsasdefinedhereinareoutsidethe
scopeofthisspecification.Suchmeasuresasencryptionoffiles major factor in transcription, where the user must listen to
(either at rest or in transit), authentication of users or origina-
tors, assignment and control of file access permissions, and
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.01.
backup or recovery of files which may be necessary to meet
Withdrawn. The last approved version of this historical standard is referenced
on www.astm.org.
institutional policies or governmental regulations are not ad-
Available from International Organization for Standards (ISO), 1 rue de
dressed in this specification. Guidance for security of dictated
Varembe, Case Postale 56, CH-1211, Geneve 20, Switzerland.
health records can be found in Guide E1902. 5
Available fromAmerican National Standards Institute (ANSI), 25 W. 43rd St.,
4th floor, New York NY 10036.
Available from Health Level Seven (HL7), 3300 Washtenaw Ave., Suite 227,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4261.
1 7
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E31 on A multimedia standard published as a joint design document by IBM and
Healthcare Informatics and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E31.15 on Microsoft, available from Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond,
Health Information Capture and Documentation. WA 98052.
Current edition approved Dec. 10, 2001. Published March 2002. DOI: 10.1520/ Available from International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (formerly
E2185-01. CCITT), Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.
E2185 – 01
speech for extended periods. The listener may have a reduced compression actually loses some information, resulting in
ability to identify the speaker due to the degradation of sound degradation of the sound quality inherent in the original voice
quality. file and an inability to precisely regenerate that original file.
However, “compression ratios” are typically greater with this
3.1.2 destination system—digital dictation system that re-
type of compression. Suitable lossy compression algorithms
ceives dictation messages from another system.
are able to reduce data storage and transmission requirements
3.1.3 dictate workstation (or dictate station)—device for
while maintaining a sufficient voice quality for the sound file’s
input of voice dictation and data that is captured and subse-
intended use.
quently stored.
3.1.14 voice file transfer/transmission—movement of a dis-
3.1.4 digital dictation recorder—device designed specifi-
crete amount of digitally recorded voice information over a
callytoacceptandstoredigitaldictationfrommultiplediscrete
transfer media.
sources. The recorder can usually be accessed by a variety of
3.1.14.1 Discussion—The voice information is in digital
means including, but not limited to, touch-tone telephones,
formandincludesaheaderofdescriptivetextualdataaboutthe
direct-wire input stations, and PC-based dictation applications.
voice information. The amount of voice information depends
3.1.5 digital dictation server—device designed as a reposi-
on the length in time of the voice episode and the method of
tory for digital dictation. This server may function as the
encoding the voice. Transfer media types include telecommu-
management point for workflow and routing of the dictation
nication media (like phone lines), local area networks, discrete
files.
storage media, and wireless means. The data interchange
3.1.6 digital dictation system—system that receives, stores,
transmission may be between computer systems in a given
manages, and transmits digital sound files and their associated
medical institution, between medical institutions, or between a
data. It may be shared between a number of remote dictate and
healthcare institution and a business partner, such as a tran-
transcribe stations. The system may contain various combina-
scription service.
tions of dictate workstations, dictation recorders, dictation
3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
servers, transcribe workstations, and other related components.
3.2.1 dictation message (or digital voice file)—unit of
3.1.7 digital voice file audio element—digitized audio por-
information that consists of both audio and data elements. The
tion of a dictation message, excluding the data elements.
audio (voice) component generally represents one entire dic-
3.1.8 digital voice file data elements—information associ-
tated job, and the associated data elements are applicable to
ated with a digital voice file, excluding the audio component.
that particular job. In the context of this specification, a
The data elements contain information that describes the voice
dictation message to be transferred from one system to another
file or its contents, or both.
is generally contained within a single file.
3.1.9 digital voice format—technical description of the
3.2.2 document—voicefilewithitsassociateddataelements
digital representation of the voice.
(see dictation message).
3.1.10 interoperability—capability of a functional unit to
3.2.3 intelligibility—how well the speech is understood by
operate normally in different data processing environments in
humansubjects.Itismeasuredbyhavinghumansubjectslisten
a way that requires users to have little or no knowledge of the
to reproduced speech and answer questions to determine how
unique characteristics of those units. (SeeANSI X3.172-1990,
well the speech is understood. Speech may be intelligible, but
page 60.)
may be unpleasant to hear and have background noises.
3.1.11 source system—digital dictation system that sends
3.3 Acronyms:
dictation messages to another system.
ADPCM Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation
3.1.12 transcribe workstation (or transcribe station)—
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
CPR Computer-based Patient Record
device utilized to access stored data or voice dictation, or both,
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
in order to convert it into text or integrate it, or both, with
MS-DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System
existing text.
PCM Pulse Code Modulation
RIFF Resource Interchange File Format
3.1.13 voice file compression—soundisananalogwavethat
can be converted into a digital form for computer storage or
4. Significance and Use
nondegradable transmission. The digital voice file is generated
by sampling the sound wave at predetermined intervals, and 4.1 General Approach—This specification defines a general
then representing each sample with bits or bytes of data. When and flexible mechanism to enable the interoperability of digital
the voice needs to be heard, a digital-to-analog conversion is dictation systems and workstations, including the transfer of
performedinordertoreconstitutetheactualsoundofthevoice. digital voice files and their identifying data between disparate
The resulting sound quality will be related to: (1) the accuracy systems, regardless of manufacturer. The specification identi-
of the sampling algorithm, (2) the amount of data originally fiesrequiredandsuggesteddataelementsassociatedwithvoice
collected (the number of samples per unit of time times the files utilized in a healthcare environment. The required ele-
number of bits per sample), and (3) the impact of any data ments shall be provided by any industry standard digital
compression. It will also be affected by the hardware. Com- dictation system. The elements in the suggested category may
pression can be “lossless” or “lossy.” A lossless compression accompany a voice file using a digital dictation system coupled
reduces the amount of data required to represent the original with another system (like the CPR system). This specification
digital voice file but has absolutely no impact on sound quality. addresses not only those data elements that are required when
Theoriginalfilecanbereplicated,precisely,atanytime.Lossy the job is created but also information that a destination system
E2185 – 01
might need to provide back to the source system for status not require proprietary hardware, and (3) the format must be
updates.The combined data elements and voice data object are commonly available in the industry.
referred to as the dictation message.
5.2 The digital voice file format is Resource Interchange
4.2 Level of Implementation:
File Format (RIFF). RIFF is a tagged-file specification used to
4.2.1 This specification is specifically targeted for the defi-
define formats for multimedia files. Tagged-file structure helps
nition of a message encapsulating both the data elements and
prevent compatibility problems that often occur when file-
actual voice file encoded in a standard compression algorithm.
format definitions change over time. Because each piece of
While given consideration, the transport mechanism is outside
datainthefileisidentifiedbyaheader,anapplicationthatdoes
the scope of this specification.
not recognize a given data element can skip over the unknown
4.2.2 An example suitable for the transmission of large
information.AWAV file uses the RIFF format and has a .WAV
amounts of digital voice data would be the use of industry-
filename extension. RIFF format voice files are self-
standard magnetic tape or digital audio tape, with ANSI
descriptive; that is, the voice file format is defined within the
standard-type labels, using variable length blocked records
file.ThisstandardsupportstheWAVvoicefileformatsinTable
(lines) with a maximum block size of 4092 bytes. Individual
1.
lineswithineachblockcouldbeterminatedbyacarriagereturn
5.3 Voice File Format Descriptions:
character (ASCII code 13). As another example, for the
5.3.1 In PCM (pulse code modulation), the digitized data
transmission of moderate amounts of digital voice data, floppy
9 consists of a series of numeric values at some regular rate (the
disks written in MS-DOS format or another commonly used
stated sampling rate). Each sampled value is either 8 or 16 bits,
directory and file structure could be used; the data would be
with linear quantization. Sampling rates of 8000, 11 025, and
contained within a single sequential file on the disk, with lines
22 050 per second are supported. This format is supported on
within the file delimited by carriage return (ASCII 13) or
most standard platform computer operating systems.
carriagereturnfollowedbylinefeed(ASCII10)characters.An
5.3.2 ITU/CCITT mu Law andALaw are versions of PCM
example of network hardware and software suitable for the
transmission of digital voice data would be Ethernet and the with a piece-wise linear approximation of logarithmic encod-
ing.MulawisastandardforNorthAmericantelephony.ALaw
TCP/IP protocol. The files could be sent from system to
system using the HL7 data exchange specification. is used in Europe. See ITU G.711 for details. Sampling rates of
8000, 11 025, and 22 050 per second are supported. This
4.3 Voice File Formats—This specification provides the
voice file compression algorithms that are commonly available format is supported on most standard platform computer
operating systems.
in the industry.This specification considers standard voice files
tobethosevoicefileformatsthatarewidelyusedandcoverthe
5.3.3 OKI ADPCM is a version of Adaptive Delta PCM,
current media types that are anticipated to be used in the
which encodes the difference between samples with a method
healthcare industry in the foreseeable future. The compression
in which the same number of bits per sample can sometimes
algorithms referenced are widely used and supported by
represent very small changes in the input signal and at other
common operating environments. It is expected that the algo-
times represent much larger changes. This encoding reduces
rithms referenc
...