Many kinds of medical data like[image data, alphanumeric data, physiological signal data] are controlled, interpreted, and archived at a hospital. Alphanumeric data are usually stored in the hospital databases and consist of details like the patient’s bio-data, lab test results, medical histories and doctors’ notes.
Image data include copies of x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans,computerized tomography(CT), and ultrasound images. Physiological data are also kept, like recordings of the electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyogram (EMG),and blood pressure readings.
Medical data can be stored in many forms like binary data,that consist of simple yes/no,male/female type answers and categorical data, which contain answers from many options; for example, regarding a cardiac drug, the categories could be calcium channel blocker, beta blocker, or arrhythmic agent.
Integer data may involve blood pressure readings whereas continuous data consists of real value measurement.
Image data are composed of pixels that can be easily stored as TIFF, JPEG, or BMP file types for future analysis and diagnosis.
Medical records have increased in size as databases of quantitative data continually grow.
Computer databases for medical records have been around for the last 40 years, beginning with the first database COSTAR (computer based medical record system), since then, other large databases followed like PROMIS (problem oriented medical system) in the university of Vermont during 1970s.
The arthritis, rheumatism and aging medical information systems (ARAMIS) system developed at Stanford University in 1972 was also based on the PROMIS structure but was designed to collect time oriented data to record a patient’s recovery progress. Continued developments in technology since then have now allowed medical records to be made accessible online and to be carried around in personal digital assistants (PADs) or smart cards.