Evaluation of telephone transmission for computer electrocardiographic interpretation in Japan

The reliability of the Japanese public telephone facilities to transmit electrocardiograms (e.c.g.) for computer interpretation was assessed. The International Business Machine's (IBM) e.c.g. computer program by Bonner was used. No appreciable distortion of e.c.g. was observed following repeated transmission from hospitals separated by 1000 km. Thirty-four normal and 66 abnormal e.c.g.s. were transmitted twice. Identical results were observed in 97% of normals and 92% of abnormals. Following these fundamental experiments, 1236 patients' e.c.g.s. were transmitted for computer intepretation. The study showed that 98·6% (1219 cases) were technically satisfactory and 1·4% (17 cases) were not. The 17 unsatisfactory cases were classified into ten unreceivable data formats, six inconsistent measurements and one unacceptable noise level. The authors concluded that the Japanese public telephone facilities were acceptable for the transmission of e.c.g.s. for computer interpretation.