The history and challenges of SCP-ECG: the standard communication protocol for computer-assisted electrocardiography

Rubel, P., Fayn, J., Macfarlane, P. W., Pani, D., Schlögl, A. and Värri, A. (2021) The history and challenges of SCP-ECG: the standard communication protocol for computer-assisted electrocardiography. Hearts, 2(3), pp. 384-409. (doi: 10.3390/hearts2030031)

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Abstract

Ever since the first publication of the standard communication protocol for computer-assisted electrocardiography (SCP-ECG), prENV 1064, in 1993, by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), SCP-ECG has become a leading example in health informatics, enabling open, secure, and well-documented digital data exchange at a low cost, for quick and efficient cardiovascular disease detection and management. Based on the experiences gained, since the 1970s, in computerized electrocardiology, and on the results achieved by the pioneering, international cooperative research on common standards for quantitative electrocardiography (CSE), SCP-ECG was designed, from the beginning, to empower personalized medicine, thanks to serial ECG analysis. The fundamental concept behind SCP-ECG is to convey the necessary information for ECG re-analysis, serial comparison, and interpretation, and to structure the ECG data and metadata in sections that are mostly optional in order to fit all use cases. SCP-ECG is open to the storage of the ECG signal and ECG measurement data, whatever the ECG recording modality or computation method, and can store the over-reading trails and ECG annotations, as well as any computerized or medical interpretation reports. Only the encoding syntax and the semantics of the ECG descriptors and of the diagnosis codes are standardized. We present all of the landmarks in the development and publication of SCP-ECG, from the early 1990s to the 2009 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) SCP-ECG standards, including the latest version published by CEN in 2020, which now encompasses rest and stress ECGs, Holter recordings, and protocol-based trials.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Standardization, computerized ECG, personalized medicine, telemedicine, digital ECG data interchange protocol, eHealth.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Macfarlane, Professor Peter
Authors: Rubel, P., Fayn, J., Macfarlane, P. W., Pani, D., Schlögl, A., and Värri, A.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
Journal Name:Hearts
Publisher:MDPI
ISSN:2673-3846
ISSN (Online):2673-3846
Published Online:24 August 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:First published in Hearts 2(3): 384-409
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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