Ambulatory electrocardiographic recorder

• US 4,183,354 A
• Filed: 07/18/1977
• Issued: 01/15/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/1977
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cardiodyne, Inc. (Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cardiodyne, Inc. (Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sibley, Alfred E., Kinghorn, George F., Winsor, Travis W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kamm, William E.
• Application Number:
  US05/816,403
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 128/2.06 G, 128/2.06 R, 128/2.06 A, 346/33 M
• US Class Current: 600/524
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0295 adapted for recording user messages or annotations
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/332 Portable devices specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/333 Recording apparatus specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/336 Magnetic recording apparatus

Abstract

A recording device using a portable recorder, such as a small, battery powered tape recorder, carried on the person and provided with electrodes for attachment to the body of the user, the electrodes being operable to sense cardiac activity and to provide the input signals to a program module coupled with the recorder to cause the latter to be turned on and off at predetermined times so that it operates at predetermined periods for the purpose of recording samples of the user'"'"'s cardiac activity sensed by the electrodes. The program module operates to amplify the input signals from the electrodes and to cause these signals to modulate a carrier wave signal suitable for recording by the tape or other recorder. The program module also is operable to demodulate the carrier wave signal when it is played back from the recorder to reproduce an accurate reproduction of the input signals from the electrodes. The demodulated signal can then be coupled to an ECG recorder and reproduced graphically, resulting in a standard ECG tracing which accurately represents what would have been obtained if the ECG recorder had been attached to the user at the time the initial recording was made. The program module also provides for a microphone input so that a user can record a verbal description of symptoms, environment and the like during the time of abnormal cardiac activity.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for handling data representing cardiac activity comprising:

sensing means including a number of electrodes for attachment to a human body to sense cardiac activity thereof and to provide data signals representing such activity;

a portable recorder adapted to be carried on the person and having a recording medium for receiving and recording data signals when the recorder is actuated;

a program module for interfacing the signals representing cardiac activity provided by the sensing means, said program module having a microphone input terminal and a manually actuated switch to enable the microphone input, said program module further including an amplifier for receiving and amplifying the data signals, a modulator for generating a carrier signal and modulating the carrier signal with the input data signals, means for applying the modulated signal to the recorder unit, a demodulator having a output terminal, and means coupling the demodulator to the recorder to permit demodulated signals to be applied to the output terminal for application to the input of an ECG recorder, there being first means coupled with the recorder for automatically actuating the same at the end of each of a sequence of time intervals and for keeping the recorder in an actuated state for a predetermined data sampling period each time it is actuated, said first means including means for changing the frequency of the time intervals and duration of the sampling periods; and

second means including a manually actuated switch for actuating the recorder during any of said time intervals to permit recording of abnormal cardiac activity during such time interval, whereby data signals provided by the sensing means can be recorded on said medium for subsequent playback to permit the evaluation of the quality of the cardiac activity represented by the data signals.