A microcontroller-based portable electrocardiograph system

The ambulatory acquisition and monitorization of electrocardiograms (ECG) under not controlled conditions, is a practice of paramount importance in cardiology diagnosis nowadays. The ECGs are acquired while patients develop their normal life, using a portable device. The storage capacity of such devices usually ranges from 24 to 48 hours. ne systems used to perform this task are the so-called Holter systems. In this paper we describe a low cost single channel Holter system, based on a microcontroller, to register the ECG signal continuously during up to 48 hours. This microcontroller system runs off batteries, and includes many peripherals such as a display, keyboard, serial interface, solid-state memory, and some electronic circuits.