LESLIE George Goulding, who has died aged 91, was a clinical scientist who played a key role in the development of modern heart-monitoring systems.

He was born on February 1 1924 in North London, to parents George and Florence Goulding.

He grew up near King’s Cross and was a teenager for most of the Second World War.

In 1946 his career in cardiology began when he joined the staff of University College Hospital working with diagnostic equipment.

At the time, one of the primary diagnostic tools for the heart besides the measurement of blood pressure was the cumbersome electrocardiograph.

The equipment was large, black and hummed, with wires connected to the patient put in place to detect electrical activity. A dark room was also needed to process the final images. Newer techniques were emerging though, in particular cardiac catheterisation.

This allowed the heart’s structure to be examined using tubes fed through peripheral veins and arteries and into the heart.

Much medical equipment of the day was not specially made and so scientists had to be masters of invention. Within two years Mr Goulding had established himself in this field however and joined colleagues in founding of The Society for Cardiological Science and Technology.

He married his wife Ursula nee Tubbs on August 12 1950 and the couple lived together in Finchley.

In 1967 they moved to Oxfordshire when Mr Goulding joined the staff at the Radcliffe Infirmary.

Great leaps had been made in heart monitoring equipment in the 1960s, but he decided to focus on the still-unsolved problems of monitoring patients who were not confined to beds.

At this time Mr Goulding became one of the first Open University students and after graduation undertook a masters degree.

He began his research into a mobile electrocardiogram and blood pressure monitoring, and his doctorate thesis – cardiac monitoring in ambulant subjects –was completed in 1978.

The work was key to the development of the field and helped focus efforts onto recording electrocardiographic signals over 24 hours on standard audio cassette tapes. Combined with this was equipment that allowed analysis of the long recording in a practical space of time.

Dr Goulding retired from the NHS in 1989, but continued his professional life by administering research trust funds and becoming involved in the development of the clinical physiology degree He lived in Eynsham with his wife, who died last year.

Dr Goulding was chairman of The Society for Cardiological Science and Technology from 1964 to 1978 and treasurer from 1981 to 2011.

His hobbies included photography and motoring.

In 2011 his contribution to clinical science was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, when he was awarded the MBE.

Leslie Goulding died on February 2. A funeral was held at Oxford crematorium on February 17.