Design and implementation strategies of a core database model for the storage and retrieval of serial ECG data

The authors present the conceptual and physical solutions which have been designed in the framework of the OEDIPE AIM Project for the storage and retrieval of serial ECG data. A wide range of applications such as rest, stress testing, Holter ECGs, and clinical trials are addressed. The model is based on standard relational database technology, and is independent from any ECG equipment. Compliant with CEN and lSO standards, it opens the field of ECG data telematics interchange. Emphasis is put on the adequation to the various clinical scenarios of use, from the practitioner office or an emergency department, up to a cardiology hospital and research purposes. The database schema is modular enough to be integrated in various architectures, and may easily cooperate with other distributed databases storing non ECG data. It supports dynamic patient-dependent control and management of serial data, and the storage of any clinical event, thus allowing intelligent retrieval processes to be performed.<>