Abstract: In order to store and transmit electrocardiogram(ECG),an integer wavelet based on lifting scheme composed of embedded zerotree wavelet(EZW)coding is proposed in this paper.The EZW has achieved notable success in image coding.We modified the algorithm for the one-dimensional case and applied it to compression of ECG data.In order to reduce the complexity of the algorithm,we used the integer wavelet to replace the original wavelet.Experiments on selected records from MIT-BIH arrhythmia database revealed that the proposed code is significantly more efficient in compression,when compared with other methods.The algorithm exhibits the virtue of simplicity,fastness variant bit rate,space saving and relatively low computation complexity,etc.which makes it especially fit for the embedded system with critical memory space and power consumption.