? Funds are requested to support publication of the proceedings of the 2004 through the 2008 Conferences on the Computerized Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram and during that period to support the conference registration fees and air-travel costs for the finalists of the Young Investigators Session. Advances in Electrocardiology over the past several decades have been rapid enough to justify annual ISCE meetings. The topic area is particularly important with the volume of computer-processed electrocardiograms on the order of 54 million in 1987 in the United States and more than 15,000 devices in the field with analysis capabilities. The objective of this conference is to exchange information about automated electrocardiologic advances among basic scientists, clinical researchers, biomedical engineers, epidemiologists, computer scientists and electrophysiologists. The majority of participants are from academic organizations, with considerable international participation; research scientists and engineers from industry will also be represented. The multi disciplinary nature of the participants will allow in-depth exploration of scientific/technical issues such as cellular mechanisms for ischemia and arrhythmias from ion channels to the whole heart, electrocardiographic imaging, mechanisms of fibrillation and defibrillation, automatic external and internal defibrillators, implantable antiarrhythmic devices, ischemic monitoring, ECG predictors of morbidity & morality, digital ECG databases as part of the patient record, HIPPA regulations and QT dispersion. Eight sessions are planned over a 4-day period, including a Young Investigators' session. The philosophy of the ISCE conferences, patterned after the Gordon conferences, is to maximize opportunities for discussions. Formal presentations with considerable time for discussion are held mornings and evenings. Afternoons are available for free discussion in small study groups or workshops and for poster sessions. The scientific areas addressed ideally match the interests of the clinical electrocardiologist, electrophysiologist and bioengineer readership of the Journal of Electrocardiology. ? ?
