A potentially powerful new tool for noninvasive diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities: the CUPID system for analysis of electrocardiograms in the frequency domain.

Clinical correlation of frequency-domain characteristics of electrocardiograms with specific disease entities of thousands of patients has produced a simple, noninvasive diagnostic system capable of detecting many cardiac abnormalities with specificity and sensitivity exceeding 90%. This system, a proprietary product called CUPID, is now undergoing clinical trials in Europe, South America, and the United States. The author discusses the physiologic basis of electrocardiography and the development of the CUPID system, and reviews the results of the trials that have been completed. The system appears to hold promise for fast, inexpensive, and accurate screening of patients for cardiac disease without somatic invasion.