RESULTS OF THE PERFORMANCE TESTING OF PURPOSE-BUILT AND PC-BASED ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHS USING A SIMPLE EVALUATION PROCEDURE

This paper presents the results of the evaluation tasting of six 12-le ad electrocardiographs, three purpose-built instruments and three of t he recently introduced personal computer-based type (PC-based). As for PC-based electrocardiographs, three examples of the MRT systems, two examples of the 300 Hz CardioScope model and one prototype of the 1200 Hz CardioScope were examined but only results for one representative example of each are given here. It was of particular interest to compa re the performance advantages and limitations of the PC-based electroc ardiographs with that of instruments currently in use. A test procedur e was developed that can be used by a medical technical department to evaluate an electrocardiograph before making a purchase decision. The procedure includes tests of frequency response, sampling rate 50 Hz fi lter attenuation, gain and common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) plus tes ts based upon simulated electrocardiograms (ECGs). The procedure takes account of the AHA and ECRI recommendations for electrocardiograph ch ecks and can be completed in less than two hours. The only equipment r equired being an ECG simulator and a signal generator The results of t his work show that purpose-built electrocardiographs meet all normal p erformance requirements, whereas the PC-based types, whilst having the potential to at least equal these requirements, currently exhibit sof tware and hardware related problems.