PC based storage and processing of electrocardiogram tracings recorded with a HP4745A pagewriter II cardiograph

Abstract

Currently the Department of Cardiology, Universitas Hospital, keeps paper copies of ECGs filed in large filing cabinets. Access to these files is tedious during office hours, and impossible after hours, when the filing room is locked and no filing personnel are available. Commercially available systems for computerised storage of ECG data are available from a number of vendors. Some drawbacks of these systems include: • Extremely expensive. • Only a portion of the functions offered by these systems are really needed at the Department of Cardiology, Universitas Hospital. These systems are thus not economically justifiable by the Department of Cardiology, Universitas Hospital. • Some require new/different ECG machines to be used. • Some require an expensive computer system to be installed. • Additional space is needed for additional equipment. • Staff needs to be extensively trained to use the new equipment. This dissertation describes the development of a dynamic link library (DLL) which is used to acquire and decode data from a Hewlet Packard HP4745A Cardiograph II Page Writer electrocardiograph. Furthermore, the database application using the HP4745A DLL can also be expanded to accept data from other ECG machines. The acquisition and decoding DLL must be developed to produce a decoded data file conforming to the format described in this dissertation. By storing these decoded data in a database such as Hearts 32, the data can be reprocessed (drawing of ECG traces on screen or on printer). Selected leads from different ECGs can also be plotted on the same screen. Fast access to previous ECGs will help the cardiologists at the Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein to improve patient care. The cardiac patients of the Free State community as well as the staff at the Department of Cardiology, Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein can benefit from the results of this research.