AENEAS: a standard for ECG-management and exchange in the Netherlands

The Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands (ICIN) has set up a computer network for the exchange of ECG (electrocardiographic) data within nine large Dutch hospitals. The main goal of the project is to be able to share ECGs for both patient care and scientific research. An additional goal is standardization of ECG management and diagnostic statements. A committee was formed to investigate the proposal. It called itself and the proposed network AENEAS, which is an acronym or `automatic ECG-Analysis in the Netherlands, towards an Exclusive Authorized Standard´. Minimal requirements have been defined for electrocardiographs and management systems, and global network specifications have been written. During the course of the investigation, several types of electrocardiographs and ECG management systems were tested. It became clear that minimal standards still need to be defined for these as well. Communication between electrocardiographs and/or systems is not at all standardized and is virtually impossible between equipment of different vendors