Improving patient care by embedding FairCom DB in optometry devices
Knowing a person's field of vision is an essential function for ophthalmology and optometry professionals, especially when monitoring the treatment of glaucoma. To do this, practitioners perform visual field testing with perimetry devices. The world's premier producer of these vital medical devices is the Zeiss Foundation. Its Carl Zeiss Meditec division developed the Humphrey® Field Analyzer 3 (HFA3), which delivers interactive analysis by providing a stimulus to the patient's eye and then measuring the patient’s reaction to determine the field of vision.
After the early stages of glaucoma development, the perimetry capabilities of HFA3 are used to determine how well the eye works and which areas exhibit degraded or lost functionality. Because glaucoma is a disease with a very long cycle, maintaining patient data to determine progression requires long-lived data. Patients may visit multiple doctors using instruments of different generations or models to assess disease progression.
Because of these variables, HFA3 requires sophisticated data management capabilities to integrate data from disparate sources. This is where FairCom DB comes into the picture.
Why FairCom DB?
FairCom database technology is both NoSQL and SQL, and it is trusted by companies worldwide for its speed, reliability, and ability to be easily embedded. These attributes are critical for many customers, especially in the medical device industry. In fact, FairCom DB is the database of choice for several medical companies.
For more than 25 years, FairCom DB has been embedded in current and past Carl Zeiss HFA systems (HFA II and HFA3). However, embedding FairCom DB gives Zeiss more than legendary speed and reliability. Brad Gilbertson, Zeiss' senior manager of Glaucoma Systems Innovation, says DB readily fulfills HFA3's data needs.
"We added the FairCom database so our system could handle more sophisticated data compatibility needs with less programming support costs and to get increased throughput," he says. "With the success of the product line, we learned to rely on FairCom's commitment to maintaining compatibility throughout the product lifecycle. Today, the HFA3 can continue product care for a patient that may have begun 30 years in the past, with perfect data continuity."
In addition to the HFA3, FairCom DB has maintained compatibility with older versions of the medical devices that are still in operation, some of which are approaching 30 years old. This is especially important for data transfer, such as when Zeiss' customers upgrade from an older version of the HFA. With FairCom DB, the transfer occurs at disk I/O speed instead of the much slower serial processing speed.
"We realized that by incorporating a newer version of FairCom DB into our product, we could transfer data just by reading the old databases," Gilbertson says. "We use a firehose instead of an eye dropper to transfer information. ... We used to rely on serial communications to sidestep technology obsolescence. Now, technology obsolescence is no longer a factor."
Gilbertson says embedding DB has led to a sixty-times performance increase for Zeiss' data transfer. As the HFA product line advances, FairCom DB has advanced alongside it. This ensures that Zeiss engineers have minimal work when ensuring the performance of their medical devices.
Today, HFA3 uses Windows operating systems with C# and C++ software. FairCom DB works well with Windows and these programming languages simultaneously and without needing a database administrator.
In one instance, a Zeiss customer recently transferred several hundred thousand exams from an older device to a newer device; while this high volume of data would have taken several days using previous approaches, FairCom DB provided lightning-fast data transfer.
"The procedure was simple, and there weren't any problems," Gilbertson says. "When we were done, the practitioner's office staff simply began using the new system without prolonged downtime."
What does this mean for the end user?
HFA's end users are located worldwide. Their sizes range from small one-doctor practices in remote locations to large hospitals in urban areas. The clientele includes integrated delivery networks and prominent organizations such as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
"To operate an HFA, you have to know your job as an eye doctor or as a technician working for an eye doctor," Gilbertson says. "But you don't have to know anything about computers or technology."
FairCom DB's data management capabilities also allow for easy data transport, which is a basis for patient ownership of data, a concept that is emerging worldwide.
Embedding FairCom DB into the HFA systems, especially the most recent version (HFA3), has obviously benefitted the product development team and the customers. One would expect that accomplishing the desired results would require a lot of effort.
However, when asked how he would describe FairCom DB, Gilbertson had a simple answer: "If I get just one word, I would say 'easy.' The ability to plug it in quickly was critical for us because it freed up much-needed time to focus on other areas of product development. We’ve had to solve a bunch of problems with other databases, but we haven't had to solve any FairCom DB problems."
FairCom works alongside you
Zeiss's successful relationship with FairCom is not limited to the technical side of the house. Gilbertson says working with FairCom has been easier for Zeiss than working with some of the larger database vendors.
"Dealing with [other vendors] for product manufacturing is complicated, and they can be somewhat aggressive," he says. "FairCom's approach of dealing with us on an individual basis was a big advantage for us."
About Zeiss
Zeiss is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The Zeiss Group develops, produces, and distributes measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cinema lenses, binoculars, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress.
Zeiss is divided into four segments: Industrial Quality Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets, and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. The Zeiss Group is represented in more than forty countries; it has over fifty sales and service locations, more than thirty manufacturing sites, and about twenty-five research and development centers around the globe. Additional information about Carl Zeiss and HFA3 is available at Zeiss.com.
