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Purpose: The ISCEV standards and recommendations for electrophysiological recordings in ophthalmology define a set of protocols with stimulus parameters, acquisition settings, and recording conditions, to unify the data and enable comparability of results across centers. Up to now, however, there are no standards to define the storage and exchange of such electrophysiological recordings. The aim of this study was to develop an open standard data format for the exchange and storage of visual electrophysiological data (ElVisML)., Methods: We first surveyed existing data formats for biomedical signals and examined their suitability for electrophysiological data in ophthalmology. We then compared the suitability of text-based and binary formats, as well as encoding in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and character/comma-separated values., Results: The results of the methodological consideration led to the development of ElVisML with an XML-encoded text-based format. This allows referential integrity, extensibility, the storing of accompanying units, as well as ensuring confidentiality and integrity of the data. A visualization of ElVisML documents (ElVisWeb) has additionally been developed, which facilitates the exchange of recordings on mailing lists and allows open access to data along with published articles., Conclusions: The open data format ElVisML ensures the quality, validity, and integrity of electrophysiological data transmission and storage as well as providing manufacturer-independent access and long-term archiving in a future-proof format. Standardization of the format of such neurophysiology data would promote the development of new techniques and open software for the use of neurophysiological data in both clinic and research.

Purpose: The DTL fibre electrode is commonly used to record the electric potentials elicited by stimulation of the retina. Two positions are commonly used: it is placed either on the cornea along the lower lid or in the conjunctival fornix. The PERG and OPs have previously been examined and compared under both conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the ERG, flicker response and on-off responses with differing electrode positions., Methods: Before recruitment, all subjects underwent an ophthalmological examination. We enrolled 13 normal control subjects into the study aged 13-64 years, all with a visual acuity of ≥1.0. We recorded scotopic and photopic ERGs, flicker and on-off responses, for both electrode positions. On the first day, one eye had the electrode placed on the cornea along the lower lid and the other eye had it positioned in the conjunctival sac. On a second day, the recordings were repeated with the alternative electrode placements., Results: ERG, on-off and flicker responses were all smaller by between 20 and 25% when the DTL electrode was positioned in the conjunctival sac, compared to when it was positioned on the cornea, as did the scatter in the data points. This indicates that there is no advantage clinically for one or the other placement., Conclusions: Our results confirm other reports examining the effect of electrode position on electrophysiological potentials. When recording with the DTL electrode, it is important to ensure that it is placed at the same position in repeat recordings or in multicentre trials and that it is stable and does not move during recording.

Purpose The International Society for Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) started a process of standardization in electrophysiology of vision to increase comparability of recordings. Standardization is important, especially in clinical trials. However, there is no standard for encoding electrophysiological data of vision. Recently, we proposed such a standard, called Electrophysiology of Vision Markup Language (ElVisML). Here we give an overview of our experiences in the application of ElVisML in clinical routine and in a multi‐center clinical trial. Methods The University Eye Hospital Tuebingen runs three Espion (Diagnosys Ltd) systems, all connected to a central database, which is integrated into a hospital information system (HIS). ERG recordings are added to patients electronic health records (EHR) as ElVisML file. The software system of the STZ eyetrial ERG reading center uses ElVisML as a native format for the electronic exchange of ERG recordings between stakeholders of the reading process. Results Integrated into a HIS, ElVisML allows for a network‐wide access to ERG recordings and long‐term archiving. Compliance to regulatory requirements of the reading center are successfully implemented in a multi‐center study (2 sites, 20 patients, 4 examinations) using ElVisML: An audit trail is realized by revisions of ElVisML files, conformance checks are automatically enforced during each step of the workflow using data included in ElVisML. Conclusion Open standards like ElVisML help to ensure quality, validity, and integrity of ERG recordings, provide manufacturer independent access, and long‐term archiving in a future‐proof format in clinical routing as well as in reading centers. Commercial interest [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Recently, we proposed a standard for the exchange of electrophysiological recordings of vision, called Electrophysiology of Vision Markup Language (ElVisML). Here we present a Web 2.0 application, ElVisWeb, for visualizing data encoded in ElVisML. It intends to facilitate the exchange of recordings on mailing lists like CEVNet in a standardized way and to allow for sharing of data along with published articles. Methods Main goals of ElVisWeb were easy usage and deployment. It is developed completely in JavaScript and as web application it does not require any installation on the client. It uses the single‐page‐interface paradigm (SPI): An ElVisML‐file can be pasted into a text‐field and a graphical representation of it is compiled. ElVisWeb can be deployed on any web‐server or executed locally. For convenience, there is an upload functionality, which requires PHP on the server, however. ElVisWeb leverages open source JavaScript libraries for XML‐processing (http://dev.abiss.gr/sarissa) and charts generation (http://www.jqplot.com). Results A Web 2.0 application for visualization of electrophysiological recordings of vision, ElVisWeb, was successfully implemented. It is designed for easy usage and deployment. Recordings encoded in ElVisML can be visualized with no additional software installation. Conclusion ElVisML is a standardized way for exchanging electrophysiological data. ElVisWeb is a first step towards an open ecosystem around ElVisML. It provides chart generation for recordings and may be used in mailing lists like CEVNet or for sharing data along with published articles. It is also ready to be used on mobile devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]