ECG Telecare: Past, Present and Future

Current advancements in computing power, digital signal processing techniques and data communications have helped to usher in a new era in the delivery of medicine and patient management. The coming together of these technologies into the discipline of telemedicine facilitates the remote diagnosis and care management of patients, irrespective of location, by providing the opportunity to link remote clinical expertise with any primary care, secondary care or other health care centre. The increasing quality and fidelity of transmitted clinical data along with high levels of interaction means that telemedicine systems allow the possibility for examinations on a level similar to that of conventional examinations. Telemedicine now offers the opportunity for examination and management of patients by a specialist in a remote location almost as if both were colocated.

As communication systems continue to develop and move from being fixed or terrestrial in nature to being mobile, we can expect the flexibility and application of telemedicine based care to expand. At present, some systems allow for remote diagnosis by using a combination of mobile and fixed communication systems. In the future we shall see an increased reliance on mobile technology and with it the potential to offer additional services such as home-based care models, remote and personal consultations and others not yet fully realised.