Many ECGs still live on paper, in scanned archives or as images sent between sites. Cardiolyse converts them into digital 12-lead waveforms, checks that each image can be digitised reliably and runs them through the same AI analysis as any digital recording.
Paper printouts, scanned PDFs and photos cannot be read by ECG analysis software, which needs the raw digital signal. Paper or physical ECGs remain common, even large, well-resourced hospitals have relied on paper until recently. Digitization puts these ECGs back within reach of AI analysis.
ECG printouts come in different layouts and formats. Each step below turns them into a calibrated waveform — and stops the process if an image cannot be digitised reliably.
A printed ECG only shows a picture of the heart’s activity. Once it is digitised, every interval, amplitude and rhythm feature can be measured, compared and stored.
Scan a printout or export a PDF or image of the ECG — one at a time or as a batch.
Send the files through the REST API, a partner integration, or a direct drag & drop upload in our Workspace.
The grid is removed, the signal is calibrated and converted into a digital waveform, and images that cannot be read reliably are flagged.
The signal is analysed by Cardiolyse and the result is reviewed in Cardiolyse ECG Workspace or returned to your system.
Designed to plug into platforms, archives and device services, but also offering clinicians the ability to use their mobile phones for upload.
There is no single global count, but the numbers are large. One 2026 study estimates that around 300 million ECG tests a year are stored only as paper printouts or scanned PDFs, and researchers describe billions of clinical ECGs that exist only as paper scans. Paper ECGs remain especially common in the Global South.
Scanned paper ECGs, PDF exports from ECG devices and image files of printed ECGs. Common 12-lead layouts such as 3×4, 6×2 and 12×1 are supported.
If the software cannot find the calibration pulse or separate the leads, the image is flagged and not analysed, so you can send a cleaner scan.
The digitised signal runs through the same Cardiolyse analysis. Some findings depend on how much of each lead the printout shows — a 3×4 printout, for example, holds only a short segment of most leads — so the report reflects what the image contains.
Yes. Files can be sent in batches through the API, and results come back as structured data ready for your database or research dataset.
Yes. Send us a small anonymised set of images and we will walk you through the results. Contact us to set it up.
Send us a few anonymised ECG images — we will digitise and analyse them and review the results with you.
