ASTM LIS Analyzer Receiver — MCP Server

Let an AI agent collect and query results from clinical and laboratory analyzers (hematology, clinical chemistry, immunoassay, urinalysis, coagulation) that upload results over the standard ASTM E1381 / E1394 host interface (CLSI LIS1-A / LIS2-A2). The server acts as a small, receive-only LIS endpoint: it acknowledges the analyzer's frames, validates checksums, reassembles messages and lets the agent look results up by sample, patient, test or time.

Try it without hardware

uvx labmcp-astm-lis --simulate --check

The simulated analyzer uploads two messages right after start: a CBC with 5-part differential (with H/L flags and suspect-flag comments, one record long enough to need two frames, and one frame corrupted on the line that is NAKed and retransmitted) and a chemistry panel (high glucose and potassium with a hemolysis comment). All patient data in it is fictitious.

Connect your analyzer

On the analyzer, open the host / LIS / "online" communication settings:

1. Protocol: ASTM (may be called ASTM E1381/E1394, LIS1-A/LIS2-A2, CLSI or "ASTM host"). Keep the ASTM low-level protocol (ENQ/STX framing) enabled, also over TCP/IP.
2. Results: enable automatic result upload.
3. Queries and orders: this server does not answer host queries or download orders. Turn off "host query" / "order request" / bidirectional mode, otherwise the analyzer waits for (and times out on) an answer before running samples.
4. Link: pick one of
   • RS-232: note the baud rate (commonly 9600), 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (fixed by E1381), and use a null-modem cable.

     uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address /dev/ttyUSB0 --check                        # Linux
     uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address serial://COM3?baudrate=19200 --check        # Windows, non-default baud
     

   • TCP, analyzer is the server (it listens on a port): the LIS connects to it.

     uvx labmcp-astm-lis --address tcp://192.168.1.80:5000 --check
     

   • TCP, analyzer is the client (you enter the host IP/port on the analyzer): this server listens. Allow the port through the computer's firewall and restrict senders with allow_from.

     uvx labmcp-astm-lis --option listen_port=5000 --option allow_from=192.168.1.80 --check
     

5. Optional: keep a local record of every message with --option store_path=~/lis/results.jsonl (the newest max_messages are reloaded when the server restarts; if the file cannot be written, messages are still kept in memory and get_connection_status reports store_write_errors).

The receiver starts as soon as the MCP server starts, so uploads are acknowledged even before the agent calls a tool. Received results stay in memory across reconnect (only clear_results or a server restart without store_path removes them), because the analyzer never re-sends a result it has been sent an ACK for.

Add to your MCP client

Claude Code

claude mcp add analyzer -- uvx labmcp-astm-lis --option listen_port=5000 --option store_path=~/lis/results.jsonl

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf (claude_desktop_config.json, .cursor/mcp.json, …)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "analyzer": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["labmcp-astm-lis", "--address", "/dev/ttyUSB0"]
    }
  }
}

Add --read-only to hide clear_results. For other clients, generate the snippet with uvx labmcp config astm-lis --address /dev/ttyUSB0 --client vscode (also cursor, codex, claude-code).

Tools

get_connection_info, get_command_log and reconnect are built into every LabMCP server.

Safety limits

This server is receive-only and never commands the analyzer (it only answers ACK/NAK), so it has no physical safety limits. Privacy settings:

Patient IDs, sex, attending physician and free-text comment records are not redacted (IDs are needed to filter results). If your analyzers put identifying text in comments, treat the output accordingly.

Example prompts

• "Have any results come in from the hematology analyzer in the last hour? List the samples."
• "Show me all flagged results for sample S26-000123, with units, reference ranges and the analyzer's comments."
• "Export today's potassium results as a table of sample ID, value and flag."
• "Is the analyzer link healthy? How many frames were NAKed today and why?"
• "Compare the glucose results of samples S26-000124 and S26-000131."
• "Clear the stored results before we start the next validation run."

Notes

• Receive-only. No order download, no host-query responses and no result acknowledgements beyond the link-level ACK. Query (Q) messages from the analyzer are stored and reported (kind: "query") but not answered. Order download is planned future work.
• Link layer (E1381). Every frame is checked: checksum (modulo-256 sum from the frame number to ETX/ETB, as two hex digits), frame number (first frame 1, then modulo 8; a repeat of the last accepted number is treated as a retransmission and ACKed without duplicating data) and framing. Defective frames get NAK and the analyzer retransmits them. Frames outside an ENQ … EOT session are ignored and counted in bytes_ignored, which usually means the analyzer is not using the ASTM low-level protocol (raw E1394 without framing is not supported). A session that goes silent for 30 s, or restarts with ENQ, has its incomplete message discarded, as E1381 requires; a message that ends with EOT but no terminator (L) record is kept and flagged complete: false.
• Tolerances. Frames with more than 240 text characters and end frames that pack several records are accepted (and counted); a frame whose CR LF never arrives is NAKed after 10 s. Text is decoded as Latin-1 by default (--option encoding=...; an unknown encoding name is refused at start-up).
• Records (E1394). Delimiters are taken from each header record (H|\^& by default). Escape sequences &F& &S& &R& &E& and the vendor form &|& are decoded; other escapes are kept verbatim. The test code is the first non-empty "local code" component of the Universal Test ID (^^^TSH, ^^^^WBC), falling back to the first component. The sample ID is the order's Specimen ID, or the first non-empty component of the Instrument Specimen ID. Values are returned exactly as sent ("<0.1", ">500", "Cancelled"); numeric_value is only set for plain numbers.
• Flags and statuses are passed through as sent. Meanings are only attached for the abnormal flags defined by LIS2-A2 / E1394 (N L H LL HH < > A U D B W) and the result statuses documented in the vendor specification used (F X); anything else is analyzer-specific, so check your analyzer's host-interface manual.
• Timestamps inside records (test started/completed, header time) are the analyzer's local time; received_at is when this server stored the message (UTC).
• Listen mode serves one analyzer per port: a new connection replaces the previous one (analyzers often reconnect after a reboot without closing the old socket). Run one server entry (or port) per analyzer. There is no TLS; keep the port on the lab network and use allow_from.
• Only tested against the simulator and loopback TCP. Differences between vendors' ASTM dialects are common; please report what works (or doesn't) with your analyzer.

Hardware verification