CLINICAL APPLICATION OF LARGE-SCALE ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS

The uses and advantages of a digital computer system in medical research were explored in a pilot study of 138 records from an outpatient clinic. Information was coded with the help of the Standard Nomenclature of Diseases and Operations, the Cornell Medical Index, and other aids, and it was found possible to punch a history of 195 questions on International Business Machine cards in 40 seconds. Manual punching can be avoided by a procedure (mark-sensing) whereby information recorded on blanks b