Abstract

This study presents a novel wireless, ambulatory,real- time, and auto alarm intelligent telecardiology system to improve healthcare for cardiovascular disease, which is one of the most prevalent and costly health problems in the world.This system consists of a lightweight and power-saving wireless ECG device equipped with a built-in automatic warning expert system. A temperature sensor is fixed to the user2019;s body, which senses temperature in the body, and delivers it to the ECG device. This device is connected to a microcontroller and ubiquitous real-time display platform. The acquired ECG signals which are transmitted to the microcontroller is then, processed by the expert system in order to detect the abnormality. An alert signal is sent to the remote database server, which can be accessed by an Internet browser, once an abnormal ECG is detected. The current version of the expert system can identify five types of abnormal cardiac rhythms in real-time, including sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, wide QRS complex, atrial fibrillation (AF), and cardiac asystole, which is very important for both the subjects who are being monitored and the healthcare personnel tracking cardiac-rhythm disorders. The proposed system also activates an emergency medical alarm system when problems occur. We believe that in the future a business-card-like ECG device, accompanied with a Personal Computer, can make universal cardiac protection service possible.