Adaptive physiological monitoring system and methods of using the same

An ambulatory electrocardiography monitoring system for recording electrocardiography signals from a patient, comprising:

• a plurality of sensors for detecting a plurality of biological signals, each biological signal representative of a physiological characteristic of a monitor-wearing patient, wherein at least one sensor comprises at one or more electrocardiography electrodes that sense electrocardiography signals from a patient and at least one sensor that detects the activity level of the patient, whereby the sensors generate an electrical signal representative of each respective biological signal;
• an arrhythmia threshold detector coupled to the electrocardiography sensor for receiving said electrical signals representative of the electrocardiography signals and determining whether the signals are below or above a preset threshold;
• an activity threshold detector coupled to the activity sensor for receiving said electrical signals representative of the activity level of the patient and determining whether the signals are below or above a predetermined threshold;
• a system error detector for detecting system errors and determining if the error meets pre-determined criteria;
• a processor for controlling the communication of system and biological signal information to the patient through a user interface based on the detection of an activity threshold by said activity threshold detector, arrhythmia threshold by said arrhythmia threshold detector, and/or system errors by the system error detector.

A method for communicating information about a patient during ambulatory monitoring of a physiological condition of the patient comprising:

• attaching a physiological monitoring system to a patient;
• sensing one or more selected physiological parameters of the patient;
• sensing the physical activity of the patient;
• comparing the sensed physical activity to a pre-set threshold to determine whether the physical activity exceeds the threshold;
• detecting a system error to be communicated to the patient and determining whether the detected error meets pre-determined criteria;
• generating an error signal based on the system error and transmitting the error signal to the patient via a user interface, if the physical activity of the patient exceeds the pre-set threshold.

A method for communicating information about a patient during ambulatory monitoring of a physiological condition of the patient comprising the steps of:

• attaching a physiological monitoring system to a patient;
• detecting a selected physiological parameter of the patient.
• sensing the physical activity of the patient;
• detecting a selected threshold of the physical activity of the patient;
• comparing the detected physiological parameter with pre-determined criteria to determine a physiological state of the patient reflecting an alarm condition;
• generating an alert signal if the physiological condition of the patient reflects an alarm condition;
• and
• transmitting the signal to the patient via a user interface, if the physical activity of the patient is below the selected threshold.

A physiological monitoring system comprising:

• at least one sensor for detecting a biological signal of a patient;
• at least one sensor for detecting physical activity of the patient;
• a processor for comparing the detected biological signal with biological signal threshold data and generating a biological signal alarm condition if the threshold is met;
• and
• an alarm system that produces at least two different types of alarms based on the biological signal alarm condition and the physical activity of the patient.