New trends in computer ECG analysis

Electrocardiographic (EGG) processing systems are operational in hospitals, outpatient clinics, primary care, and occupational medicine, and are used for population screening and epidemiologic studies. It appears that computer ECG analysis has been accepted, in spite of not yet performing quite as well as expert readers. The question is whether computerized ECG classification can be further improved. Possible new directions for research are: using information from all available beats, combining knowledge contained in different programs, incorporating knowledge gained in body surface mapping and modeling, using information from non-EGG data, and collecting large ECG databases for the assessment of EGG programs. This article reviews these developments.