Telecardiology for Rural Health Care

This paper presents the development of a web based telecardiology framework for the diagnosis of cardiac patients in rural areas. Rural health centers, a centralized server and expert cardiologists constitute the framework. Personal details, clinical information and ECG acquired from a patient at the rural center are sent to a centralized server. The server processes the ECG file to extract the lead measurements and the waveform data. The expert views the patient’s clinical information, lead measurements and ECG waveforms and submits his diagnosis for treatment. The server stores the diagnosed results and forwards the same to the respective rural center. The physician at the rural center can view the diagnosed results and recommendations from the expert and effect treatment. This telecardiology framework aims to provide health care to cardiac patients located at a distance. Implementation of this framework can change the way health care is delivered in cardiology.