Research article

A markup language for electrocardiogram data acquisition and analysis (ecgML)

Haiying Wang¹ , Francisco Azuaje¹ , Benjamin Jung² and Norman Black³

¹  School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, U.K

²  Centre for Health Informatics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

³  Faculty of Informatics, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, U.K

author email corresponding author email

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2003, 3:4doi:10.1186/1472-6947-3-4

Published:	7 May 2003

Abstract

Background

The storage and distribution of electrocardiogram data is based on different formats. There is a need to promote the development of standards for their exchange and analysis. Such models should be platform-/ system- and application-independent, flexible and open to every member of the scientific community.

Methods

A minimum set of information for the representation and storage of electrocardiogram signals has been synthesised from existing recommendations. This specification is encoded into an XML-vocabulary. The model may aid in a flexible exchange and analysis of electrocardiogram information.

Results

Based on advantages of XML technologies, ecgML has the ability to present a system-, application- and format-independent solution for representation and exchange of electrocardiogram data. The distinction between the proposal developed by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and ecgML model is given. A series of tools, which aim to facilitate ecgML-based applications, are presented.

Conclusions

The models proposed here can facilitate the generation of a data format, which opens ways for better and clearer interpretation by both humans and machines. Its structured and transparent organisation will allow researchers to expand and test its capabilities in different application domains. The specification and programs for this protocol are publicly available.