Long distance transmission of diagnostic cardiovascular information

Availability of advanced cardiac diagnostic procedures has proven to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with common cardiovascular diseases. It was requested that the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) provide a rural hospital with advanced cardiology services. The services included monitoring of inpatients and rapid interpretation of cardiac diagnostic tests. UNMC proposed to solve this problem by building a computer-based system to transmit diagnostic cardiac information from a rural hospital to UNMC for interpretation by a cardiologist. The information transmitted to UNMC was grouped into two categories: 1) cardiovascular ultrasound, 2) ambulatory and 12-lead electrocardiograms. The information consisted of digital and analog waveform information, static images, and 30 fps video. The system provided rapid data transmission to UNMC over a T-1 line. The system utilized a compression technology which did not degrade the interpretation quality of the data. This system has increased the availability of advanced cardiac diagnostic services to general medical practitioners in a rural hospital. In addition, the system has significantly reduced the time and cost to transmit vital cardiac diagnostic information, thus improving the quality of care received by rural patients.