Present methods used to develop medical soflware are empirical or based on personal knowledge, lacking the rigorous approach that applications in this field require. This paper describes the use of object oriented formal specifications in the development of an automatic exercise ECG processing system. Many benefits were achieved using this method: unambiguous and precise documentation; greater reliability, code generality and reusability; better code structure; reduction of program errors and a

more »

... greater degree of abstraction in the project, that leads to a closer relationship between the application domain and the implemented software. The system acquires and processes three ECG leads reporting various ECG measurements. Good results were obtained using the system in pilot experiments with twenty normal individuals.