KENYA STANDARD                         CD 07/SERV/ 2018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Electrocardiogra ph papers  — Specifications  
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Public Review  Draft March 2018 
 
   ©KEBS 201 8                                                                                        First Edition 201 8 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS  
 CD 07/SERV/ 2014  
ii 
  
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
 
Nursing Council of Kenya  
Ministry of Health  
Government Chemist  
Coast Provinc ial Hospital  
Nairobi  City County  
Association for Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK)  
Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK)  
Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH)  
Kenyatta University (KU)  
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA ST ANDARDS  
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in  industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for 
improvements  to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are 
welcome.     
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Keny a Bureau of Standards, 201 8 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of section 6 of the Copyright Act, Cap.130 of the Laws of Kenya, copyright subsi sts in all Kenya 
Standards and except as provided under section 7 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produ ced by Kenya Bureau of Standards may be reproduced, 
stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from the Managing Di rector.             
Permission may be conditional on an appropriate royalty paym ent. Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current edition 
of the standard and that it is updated whenever the standard is amended or revised.  The number and date of the standard shou ld therefore be 
clearly identified.  The use of material in print or in electronic form to be used commercially with or without payment or in commercial 
contracts is subject to payment of a royalty . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
iii 
 KENYA STANDARD                        CDXX/SER/2018            ICS  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Electrocardio graph papers — Specifications  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS)  
 
Head  Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi -00200, Tel.: (+254  020) 605490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020)  604031  
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Coast Region     Lake Region          North Rift Region  
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 KNWA XX:2014                                             ©KEBS   
 
iv  
 
Foreword  
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards is a national standards bod y (NSB). The work of preparing Kenya  Standards is 
normally carried out through national  technical committees. Each member body interested in a subj ect for which 
a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. National  
organizations, governmental and non -governmental, in liaison with KEBS , also take part in the work.  
Kenya  Standards are drafted in accorda nce with the rules given in the KS ISO/IEC  Directives, Part  2. 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare National  Standards. Draft Kenya  Standards adopted by the 
technical committees are circulated to the technical committee member s for ballo ting. Publication as a Kenya  
Standard requires approval by at least 2/3 of the member s casting a vote.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent 
rights. KEBS  shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This Kenya Standard  was prepared by Technical Committee KEBS /TC 136, Medical Tools, devices and 
Equipment . 
During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following documents:  
 
Annual book of AS TM standards volume 15.09.  
 
 CKS 650: 1997 Paper for electrostatic (xerographic) copying.  
 
Acknowledgement is hereby made for the assistance derived from these sources . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 KENYA STANDARD         NWA XX:2014  
 
 
    v  
Electrocardiogra ph papers — Specifications  
 
1 Scope  
 
This Kenya Standard  prescribes the requirements and test methods for Electrocardiogra ph paper  intended for use 
in electrocardiography . 
 
2   Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated  
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document 
(including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 186, Paper and board  — Sampling t o determine average quality  
ISO 187, Paper, board and pulps  — Standard atmosphere for conditioning and testing and procedure for 
monitoring the atmosphere and conditioning of samples  
ISO 287, Paper and board  — Determination of moisture content of a lot  — Oven -drying method  
ISO 11556 , Paper and board -- Determination of curl using a single vertically suspended test piece  
  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
 
For the purposes of this standard, the following definitions  shall apply.  
 
3.1  
electrocardiograph   
this is an instrument used in the detection and diagnosis of heart abnormalities that measures electrical potentials 
on the body su rface and generates a record of the electrical currents associated with heart muscle activity.  
 
3.2  
electrocardiograph paper  
is a paper impregnated or coated with materials sufficiently sensitive to make a permanent record of very faint 
tracings produced by electrocardiograph.  
 
3.3  
electrocardiogram  
is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart.  
  
3.4  
electrocardiography  
is a trans -thoracic (across the thorax or chest) interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of 
time.  
3.5  
grammage, actual   
the average grammage obtained on a sample of paper under specified test conditions and that shall normally be 
within 5 pe r cent  of the nominal grammage  
 
3.6  
grammage, nominal  
the designated grammage of paper that  is used for  reference purposes  
 
3.7  
long grain  
the orientation when the machine direction of the paper is in the long direction of the sheet.  
 
 
 
 KNWA XX:2014                                             ©KEBS   
 
vi 3.8  
lot 
one or more nominally identical boxes of paper, the paper having been made on the same equipment under 
essentia lly the same conditions, from one manufacturer, and submitted at any one time for inspection and testing.  
 
3.9  
surface resistivity   
the electrical resistance between two straight edged electrodes of the same length positioned to form the opposite 
edges of  a rectangle in contact with the surface on one side of a sheet of paper, multiplied by the electrode length 
and divid ed by the distance between them  
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 General  requirements  
 
4.1.1 The paper shall be free from loose fibres, bits of loose pa per, dust, wood splinters, dirt, creases and any 
other defects that shall impair its serviceability.  
 
4.1.3  The edges of the paper shall be clearly cut and straight.  
 
4.1.3 Designed  side of the paper shall be smooth and accept machine plotting  without undue sign s of feathering 
or spread.  
 
4.2 Material  
 
4.2.1 The machine direction of the paper shall be in the longer direction of the sheet, i.e. the sheets shall be long 
grain.  
 
4.2.2 The physical properties of the paper shall comply with the requirements given in T able 1.  
   
Table 1 — Requirements for physical properties of electrocardiograph papers  
 
Sl No.  Property  Requirement  Test Method  
(i) Grammage, nominal, g/m2 80 KS ISO 536:2012  
(ii) Grammage, actual, g/m2, min.  76 KS ISO 536:2012  
(iii) Moisture content a s packed, %  4.5  1 KS ISO 287:2017  
(iv) Opacity, %, min.  85 KS 03 -420†, Clause 13 
(v) P.V brightness ‡, %, min.  90  2 KS 03 -420, Clause 14 
(vi) pH of aqueous extract, range  4.5  —  9.5 KS 03 -420, Clause 7 
(vii) Thickness, mm, range  0.08  —   0.10 KS 03-420, Clause 17 
(viii) Roughness, max.  300 KS 03 -420, Clause 15 
(ix) Cobb test, range  
g/m2/min.  18  —  24 KS 03 -420, Clause 10.2 
(x) 
 Infra red curl deflection, mm  
 
Top side: Positive, max.  
               
   Negative, max.  
 
Bottom side: Negative, min.  
 
         Negative, max.   
        
 
15 
 
3 
 
0 
 
15 
  
 
 
 
KS ISO 11556:2005  
 
 
 
 
 
 *   Specification for substance of paper and boards.  
 †   Methods of test for paper and board.  
 ‡    Applicable to white paper only.  
 
 
 KENYA STANDARD         NWA XX:2014  
 
 
    vii 5 Dimensions  and grids  
  
5.1 The dimension s of the sheet of the paper shall be dependent on the electrocardiograph machine in use.  
 
5.2 The grids shall be visible and shall have an inner  measurement of 1 mm X 1 mm and the margin (outer)  
with a measurement of 5 mm X 5 mm.   
 
6  Packaging  and marking  
 
6.1 Packaging  
 
i) Sheets  or rolls  shall be wrapped and sealed in moisture resistant wrappers.  
 
ii) The wrapping and sealing shall be adequate to ensure that during normal transportation, handling and 
storage, the moisture content of the paper remains within the li mits specified in Table 1.  
 
iii) No adhesive shall adhere to the ECG  paper. The sheets  or rolls  of paper shall not adhere to one 
another. Reams shall only contain sheets that are nominally identical with respect to size, grammage 
and colour.  
 
 
6.2 Marking  
The follo wing shall be marked legibly and indelibly on the wrapping of each ream and on each box:  
 
i) The name and address of the manufacturer or local distributor and registered trade mark, if any;  
ii) The name of the product  as”ECG Paper” ; 
iii) The size designation of the pa per depending on the machine ; 
iv) The number of rolls or “ reams ” in each box;  
v) The grammage of the paper;  
vi) The colour of the paper.  
   
7 Sampling and compliance with the specification  
 
7.1 Sampling  
 
6.1.1  Sampling of boxes  
 
To determine whether the packing and markin g requirements of the standard with respect to boxes are met, 
take at random from the lot the number of boxes given in Table 3, appropriate to the lot size.  
 
If the boxes are on pallets, take as nearly as possible the same number of boxes from each pallet to make up 
the total number of boxes required.  Deem the samples so taken to represent the lot for the respective 
properties.  
 
Table 2 —  Selection of units  
 
Size of lot, number of 
units*, n Number of units selected  Method of selection  
1 to 5  All — 
6 to 399 
20) (n At random  
400 or more  20 At random  KNWA XX:2014                                             ©KEBS   
 
viii * In deciding the number of units to be selected round down to the nearest whole number.  
 
 
6.1.2 Sampling of reams and paper   
 
To determine whether the requirements of the standard with respe ct to reams and paper are met, after inspection of 
the boxes sampled in accordance with 6.1.1, take at random a ream from each of five of the boxes sampled; or if 
fewer than five boxes are sampled, take a ream from each of them and deem the samples so take n to represent the 
lot for the respective properties.  
   
7.2 Compliance with the Specification   
 
The lot shall be deemed to comply with the relevant requirements of the standard if  
 
i)  after inspection of boxes for packing and marking, not more than one defectiv e is found,  
ii) after inspection of the rolls or “ reams ” for packing and marking not more than one defective is found,  
iii) after inspection of the paper for defects, not more than five defects are found, and,  
iv) after testing in accordance with 3.2.2, no defect is fo und. 
 
8 Inspection  
 
7.1 Inspection of Boxes — Visually examine each of the corrugated board boxes sampled in accordance 
with 6.1.1 for compliance with the packing and marking requirements and report the results for each 
box. 
 
7.2 Inspection of Reams /rolls —Visually examine each of the reams sampled in accordance with 6.1 and 
6.2 for compliance with the packing and marking and report the results for each ream.  
 
7.3 Inspection of Paper  — Open a ream and immediately remove from about the centre of the ream, the 
number of sheets required for the determination of moisture content.  
 
  Take all reasonable precautions to avoid detectable change in moisture content of the sampled sheets. 
Afterwards count the remaining number of sheets in the ream, add the number remove d, and report the 
total number of sheets in the ream. From the remaining sheets in the ream, take at random 50 consecutive 
sheets and inspect both sides for  
   
 (a) compliance with the requirements of 4.1, 
 
 (b) the machine direction.  
 
 Report the number o f defects found. Repeat this procedure with the other ream samples. Report the total 
number of defects found.