System for display and analysis of physiological signals such as

Abstract

A system is described for displaying several lines of electrocardiographic (ECG) signals on a cathode ray tube screen for observation, analysis and selection of those portions of the signals which indicate abnormalities of heart rhythm and cardiac events of interest to the diagnostician or trained observer. The ECG signals may be recorded at real time but are inputted to the system at much greater than real time. The system provides the display of the signal portions which were recorded consecutively, each on a separate vertically displayed line. In the system the greater than real time ECG signals are converted into consecutive bytes of data and transferred through a memory, which may be part of a computer, to a bulk storage unit such as a magnetic disc unit. The data from the disc is transferred to the display by way of the memory such that the display is continuously refreshed while the lines of ECG signals are under observation. Together with the ECG signals, other alphanumeric data, such as the time of day when the signals were recorded, patient name, heart rate, cardiac condition, and other pertinent information, may also be displayed simultaneously with the lines of ECG signals by the use of the memory and storage means to receive and hold such data. As consecutive sets of lines of the ECG signals are presented for display, sections of each line containing abnormalities and cardiac events of interest may be identified by an observer and transferred through the memory to the storage unit. Hard copy of the selected sections may be obtained as by a readout means such as a plotter which is responsive to data corresponding to the selected sections. The selected data may be applied to the readout means upon completion of the display of the entire long-term electrocardiographic recording and after operator review of the selected sections.