Abstract
Summary A system was developed which allowed the simultaneous communication of digitized, full duplex speech and electrocardiography ECG signals in realtime. A single band-limited channel was used over a standard telephone line providing 3 kHz bandwidth. The full duplex speech was compressed to 2400 bit s using linear predictive coding, while multiple ECG signals were processed by a novel ECG compression technique. Extensive use of digital signal processing reduced the combined bit rate to less than 9600 bit s, allowing the use of lowcost commercial modems. The ECG communications system was tested in clinical trials. It enabled a hospitalbased clinician to provide diagnostic and treatment advice to a remote location over the standard telephone network.
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