Terms of use for the Computational Cardiology Tools

Version 2026-10-21. Effective 21 October 2026.

These are the terms for using the Computational Cardiology Tools. We have tried to write them in plain language. The short version is the notice you see when you first open a tool; this page is the full version. By using a tool you agree to these terms.

What these tools are

The Computational Cardiology Tools are a family of free educational web tools for cardiology and related fields: calculators, decision aids, guideline explorers, teaching modules and similar. You can browse all of them on the home page. These terms cover every tool in the family, and the notice you accepted names the tool you were using. A tool that has its own separate terms (for example the artistic tool MusicOfTheHeart) is covered by those terms instead.

For learning, not for patient care

• The tools are educational. They are not certified, validated or cleared for use in direct patient care, and they are not medical devices.
• They do not give medical advice, and using them does not create a doctor and patient relationship or any other professional relationship.
• Please do not use a tool alone to diagnose, treat or make decisions about any patient. Use your own independent clinical judgment, based on the characteristics of the patient in front of you, and check the original guideline, drug label or paper.
• Please do not enter patient names, record numbers, dates of birth or any other identifying details into a tool.

Who may use the tools

The tools are written for adults who are licensed healthcare professionals, or who are enrolled in a training program for a health profession. By using a tool you confirm that this describes you. A tool may add a requirement of its own, which that tool shows in its footer (for example, a tool for clinicians in a particular country).

Accuracy and changes

Guidelines, drug labels and evidence change. The content of the tools may be incomplete, out of date or contain mistakes, even though we work to keep it accurate and cite our sources. Tools can also change or be withdrawn at any time. If you spot an error we would like to hear about it.

Free of charge, and provided as it is

The tools are free. They are provided "as is" and "as available", without any promise that they are accurate, complete, uninterrupted or suitable for a particular purpose. To the fullest extent the law allows, the authors and their institutions are not responsible for any loss or harm that results from using a tool, or from not being able to use it. Nothing in these terms limits any responsibility that the law does not allow to be limited.

Counting visits

Every tool counts its visits, anonymously, so that we know how many people use each page. This needs no cookie and no choice from you.

• What is recorded: the tool and the page, the date and time, the country and the state or region your connection appears to come from, the type of device (computer, phone or tablet), and the website you came from, if any.
• How we count different visitors: we keep a short scrambled code made from your connection and your browser. It changes every day and is different for every tool, so it can tell us that 100 page views came from 40 people today, but it cannot be turned back into your address and it cannot be matched to another day or another tool.
• What is not recorded: your IP address, your name or email, anything you type or choose in a tool, or any information about a patient.
• Do Not Track: if your browser sends the Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, nothing is counted.
• How long: counts are kept for about 13 months.

Optional: usage data for improvement and research

Because the tools are free, we ask for your help. The notice has an optional checkbox. If you tick it, you agree that we may collect and use anonymous information about how the tools are used, to improve them and for research. For example, we might learn which features are helpful, or study how clinicians use decision tools, and we might publish the results as summaries of many users together.

• What this may include: which pages and sections are opened, which features and options are chosen, the type of device and browser, the language, an approximate region (such as country or state), and the date and time.
• What we do not want: your name, your email address, or any information about a patient.
• It is your choice: every tool works the same whether or not you tick the box.
• Changing your mind: use the Terms link at the bottom of any tool to open the notice again and change the box. We will stop collecting from that browser. Information that was already collected in anonymous form cannot be linked back to you, so it cannot be taken out.
• Where we are today: the anonymous visit counting above is on for everyone. The optional box is for more detailed usage information, such as which features are used, which we do not collect yet. If we start, it will follow this section, and we will update these terms if we want to do anything different.

Error reports

Every tool has a flag in its header for reporting an error. Sending a report is optional. If you send one, we receive what you wrote, the name of the tool, the page address, your window size, your theme, text size and animation settings, your language and your browser type, and a screenshot if you add one. A screenshot shows whatever was on your screen or in the image you chose, so please check the preview first and remove it if it shows anything you do not want us to see.

If you give your name and email, we use them to ask you a question about your report. If you also tick the box, and we verify the error, we may include your name on the Acknowledgements for Errata page. We never publish your email address. Reports are kept in a private database that only the maintainers can open, and you can ask us to delete a report you sent, using the contact details below. While you write, a draft is kept in that browser tab until you send it or close the tab.

What stays on your device

The tools keep a few settings in your browser so that they work the way you left them: for example your color theme, text size, language, and your answer to the notice, including when it was given. These stay on your device. You can remove them at any time by clearing the site data for the tool in your browser. We ask the notice again every 30 days, and sooner if these terms change in a meaningful way.

Ownership and what you may do

The tools and their text, figures, calculation logic, data compilations, interface designs, logos and names are protected by copyright. They are owned by the authors named in each tool's footer (for most tools, Ruey Hu and the Computational Cardiology Team). All rights reserved.

You may use the tools for your own education and clinical learning, and you may cite them.

Without prior written permission you may not:

• copy, republish, mirror or redistribute the content, figures or designs;
• reproduce or reverse-engineer the calculation logic, rules or datasets;
• scrape or otherwise collect the sites by automated means, including to train machine-learning models;
• remove, crop or obscure credit, citations or attribution on any page, export or image;
• use the names, logos or share images in a way that suggests affiliation or endorsement.

If permission is granted, attribution to the original tool and its official address is required. The names and logos of the tools identify their source.

Links to other websites

Tools link to guidelines, papers and other websites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them.

Changes to these terms

When we change these terms in a meaningful way, we change the version number above and ask you to accept again. Smaller edits, such as fixing a typo, do not need a new answer. The notice returns every 30 days either way.

Contact

For questions, corrections or to report a copy of our content, please use the contact details at rueyhu.com.