Ambulatory Electrocardiography—A New Systems Approach Based on Top-Down Structured Design

We describe a new system for ambulatory electrocardiography designed specifically to be used with Holter recording technology but also applicable to stress testing, CCU monitoring, and other cardiac function determinations. An important and unique aspect of the new system is its modular structure derived from the discipline of structured design, and top-down, structured programming. Hardware-wise the elements of the EKG (arrhythmia) analysis process execute in a series of microprocessor-based modules. The software modules (programs) are written in FORTH. The overall design philosophy results in a flexible system that is piecemeal expandable and piecemeal updatable and that can be readily modified as requirements change and as new technology becomes available.