Automated Diagnosis of Arrhythmias by Small Scale Digital Computer

An on-line system to analyze cardiac arrhythmias was developed by the use of a small scale digital computer. Electrocardiographic signals were fed into the computer, being adjusted within the input range by a buffer amplifier. The analog signals of electrocardiograms were converted to the digital values at a rate of 1, 000 times per sec. for a 20sec. period by an analog-to-digital converter installed in the computer. Then, the digitized electrocardiograms were processed by the diagnostic program. The computation time for the parameter measurement and the interpretation of an electrocardiogram by this system was about 15sec. One thousand three hundred and forty-one electrocardiograms were analyzed. A relatively accurate classification was obtained except atrio-ventricular block.The automated system of this type would serve as a diagnostic aid for physicians in the routine electrocardiographic interpretation, the mass screening of heart diseases and the electrocardiographic monitoring in the intensive care unit or the coronary care unit.