Diagnosis: Let Me Dial Your Cardiogram

Although millions of Americans have electrocardiograms done every year, the overall procedure is still cumbersome and costly. If the patient is not already in a hospital, he usually has to go there or to a doctor's office. If there is the slightest suspicion of an abnormality in his ECG, the squiggly lines on ruled paper must be interpreted by an expert cardiologist, whose eyes are understandably bleary at day's end. ECGs taken under standard conditions cost $10 to $15.

Now, with the aid of a portable electrocardiograph, some special telephone equipment and...