ECG in your hands: a multi-vendor ECG viewer for personal digital assistants

In the context of HYGEIAnet, the regional health network of Crete, numerous information systems have been developed to support the management of patient related data. In all these systems the digital acquisition and storage of clinical examinations and various vital signs play a major role in the provision of continuity of care to each patient in the region through the integrated electronic health record (IEHR). In such environment, personal digital assistants (PDAs) can be of great value to doctors on the move. The long-term goal is to extend the access to e-Health and m-Health services and to the citizen's multimedia IEHR through the use of such devices. PDAs have already been used worldwide for the display and editing of textual information, while their graphic capabilities are also continuously improving. The development of new software components for the display of specific multimedia clinical information on PDAs should speed up our long-term goal. As a first step, a multi-vendor ECG viewer for PDAs has been developed and successfully evaluated by cardiologists and general practitioners.