Capture and storage of respiratory test data

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the online collection and storage of respiratory data. Initially, a feasibility study was done to see if it was possible to use a 'microcomputer' to perform the data collection at the required speeds. The advantages of using a'‘microcomputer' are two-fold. First, the system would be portable in that it can be taken to the patient rather than vice-versa. Second, it would be easier to use a dedicated microcomputer rather than rescheduling a time-sharing minicomputer to perform the data collection. On completion of the feasibility study, it was found that there was a vast amount of data to be stored. It was calculated that a 20 megabyte disk could only store the results of 35 days of testing! An attempt was made to reduce the amount of data in such a way that it could be reproduced in its entirety when required. Since the data was unavailable during the data reduction exercise, it was typed in manually. However, as this was both time consuming and error prone, an automatic process was sought. This involved linking the 'microcomputer' to the minicomputer and transferring the data directly. Finally, an information management system was designed so that data with certain characteristics could be reproduced when it was required.