MUSEŽ CV-Mail General Information
The MUSEŽ I*Net Capabilities: A new extension to the Marquette
Medical Systems MUSE CV Information System allows access to patient records via Internet
Technologies.
Cardiology information, invasive and non-invasive reports, cannot be adequately
represented by a simple text report. This has made distribution of the information from
the Cardiology department to the outside world- e.g. the referring physician community-
problematic. While facsimile (FAX) transmission has been available as a distribution
mechanism from MUSE since 1992, it has some significant limitations with speed and
resolution. In terms of transmission speed, faxing a single page of information at high
resolution with a grid background takes approximately one minute at the usual fax
transmission rate of 9600 baud. Multiply that minute by several hundred reports and
significant delays can be introduced in distributing the information. In terms of
resolution, the MUSE uses the Group 3 High Resolution setting which provides 200x200dpi.
This is good resolution, but no where near the 600x600dpi resolution which is commonly
available today on a laser printer. Further, reviewing FAXed images on the screen is also
difficult and is only possible if the fax images are received by a computer with a FAX
modem.
However, with the introduction of the MUSEŽ CV-Mail software, the distribution of
information from the Cardiology department is simplified. MUSE CV-Mail allows all
Cardiology information stored in the MUSE CV Information System to be distributed via the
existing E-Mail infrastructure. Reports can be routed automatically or manually retrieved
to E-Mail accounts. In contrast to fax speeds, delivery of E-Mail is virtually
instantaneous and when tied with delivery across the Internet, very inexpensive, since
there are no long distance phone charges. Reports sent via E-Mail can also be forwarded to
other clinicians for additional review with no loss of resolution. Of course, reports can
easily be reviewed on screen as well.
E-Mail Client
MUSE CV-Mail is designed to send electronic mail to any E-Mail account. The message
from the MUSE CV-Mail system consists of two portions- the message body and the
attachment. The message body is a simple text report which should be compatible with any
E-mail client software. The attachment is a full featured report which can include
waveforms and textual data. All of the report formats that the MUSE can generate are
available in the attachment. Obviously, your E-mail client software must be able to handle
receiving attachments to take full advantage of this feature.
Attachment Image Format
The data needs to be faithfully reproduced on the screen and printer in the formats
that the clinician understands and expects. The MUSE CV-Web software presents the
information to the clinician precisely as the report would appear printed via a thermal or
laser printer. The image also has full color support, so the ECG waveforms are displayed
against the customary red grid. After evaluating several alternatives including JPEG and
other bitmap types, Marquette has selected Portable Document Format (PDF) from Adobe
Systems as the optimal image format. PDF (a.k.a. Adobe Acrobat format) provides the best
tradeoffs in terms of image size and resolution and it's use of vector graphics rather
than raster graphics provides the user with the optimal image display from every rendering
device. Finally, the PDF display software, the Acrobat Reader, is available for all major
computing platforms and is free from Adobe. The actual content of the report can be
configured by the user.
Wireless E-Mail Option
Reports can also be sent via Wireless E-Mail links like RadioMail. This allows reports
to be delivered to clinicians virtually anywhere. Special viewing software may be required
depending on the target platform. |
