Abstract
As an attempt to develop presymptomatic diagnosis on small animals, portable electrocardiograph was applied to large, medium and small size dogs.
Methods : Electrocardiograms of three dogs were recorded with a type of portable ECG (CG-2100, Card Guard Japan) . Portable ECG was placed between dorsal surface of a foreleg and the palmar side of the opposite foreleg. For 30 seconds pulses were recorded and then signals were sent to call center. In a few minutes ECG and brief comments were called back. For comparison ordinary ECG (Cardisuny D500, Fukuda M. E Kogyo), for dogs, was also utilized in this experiment.
Results : Three cardiograms by portable ECG were compared to those that were obtained by ordinary ECG. In conclusion, transtelephonic ECG was comparable to ordinary ECG.
Discussion : Since animals cannot explain their body condition in details, and frequent visit to animal hospital is not practical, transtelephonic diagnosis at home is highly effective procedure. The present device is possible to apply to other small animals with minor modifications. The present trial is expected to open the gate for presymptomatic medicine for animals. It also creates new field of work for animal nurses. Telemedicine is not necessarily limited to ECG, but analysis of hair, nail, saliva, blood and urine can be used in the field of telemedicine to control everyday life of animals.
