Ambulatory physiological monitor with removable disk cartridge and wireless modem

An ambulatory physiological monitor for recording physiological data from a patient for subsequent medical diagnosis of the patient, comprising:

• a housing;
• a high capacity, miniaturized magnetic disk cartridge mounted in said housing for storing physiological data and analysis software;
• and
• a circuit, located in said housing, for receiving a physiological signal representative of a physiological parameter of an ambulatory patient from a transducer attached to the ambulatory patient, for converting said physiological signal to said physiological data and for transferring said physiological data to said disk cartridge;
• wherein said disk cartridge is plug connectable in said monitor and is easily removable from said monitor, said disk cartridge being connectable to a remote computer for transfer of said physiological data and at least a portion of said analysis software from said disk cartridge to the remote computer for analysis of said physiological data using the analysis software stored in said disk cartridge and transferred, at least in part, to the remote computer.

A method for recording and analyzing physiological data from a patient, comprising the steps of:

• attaching an ambulatory physiological monitor containing a wireless data modem and a storage device to an ambulatory patient, said storage device having analysis software stored therein;
• acquiring physiological data from the patient while the patient is ambulatory using said ambulatory physiological monitor;
• storing the physiological data acquired from the patient in said storage device while the patient is ambulatory, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• and
• communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition through a cellular telephone system using said wireless data modem, the step of communicating with said remote computer system being performed using a cellular digital packet data modem for transmitting and receiving data packets.

An ambulatory physiological monitor for recording physiological data from a patient for subsequent medical diagnosis of the patient, comprising:

• a housing;
• a storage device mounted in said housing for storing physiological data and analysis software;
• a circuit, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for receiving a physiological signal representative of a physiological parameter of an ambulatory patient from a transducer attached to the ambulatory patient, for converting said physiological signal to said physiological data and for transferring said physiological data to said storage device, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• and
• a wireless data modem, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition by transferring said physiological data from said storage device to the remote computer system through a cellular telephone system, said wireless data modem comprising a cellular digital packet data modem for transmitting and receiving data packets.

An ambulatory physiological monitor for recording physiological data from a patient for subsequent medical diagnosis of the patient, comprising:

• a housing that is easily carried by a patient during normal activities for an extended period;
• a high capacity, miniaturized magnetic disk cartridge mounted in said housing, said disk cartridge being plug connected in said monitor and being easily removable from said monitor;
• an electronics module, located in said housing, for receiving a physiological signal representative of a physiological parameter of an ambulatory patient from a transducer attached to the ambulatory patient, for converting said physiological signal to physiological data and for transferring said physiological data to said disk cartridge, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• a wireless data modem, mounted in said housing, for communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition through a cellular telephone system, said wireless data modem comprising a cellular digital packet data modem for transmitting and receiving data packets;
• and
• a battery module, mounted in said housing, for supplying electrical power for operation of said disk cartridge, said electronics module and said wireless data modem.

A method for recording and analyzing physiological data from a patient, comprising the steps of:

• attaching an ambulatory physiological monitor containing a wireless data modem and a storage device to an ambulatory patient, said storage device having analysis software stored therein;
• acquiring physiological data from the patient while the patient is ambulatory using said ambulatory physiological monitor;
• storing the physiological data acquired from the patient in said storage device while the patient is ambulatory, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• analyzing the physiological data stored in the storage device, using said analysis software, to provide physiological information;
• and
• communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition through a cellular telephone system using said wireless data modem, wherein the step of communicating with said remote computer system includes transmitting said physiological information to said remote computer system, wherein the step of transmitting said physiological information to said remote computer system is executed at predetermined intervals.

A method for recording and analyzing physiological data from a patient, comprising the steps of:

• attaching an ambulatory physiological monitor containing a wireless data modem and a storage device to an ambulatory patient, said storage device having analysis software stored therein;
• acquiring physiological data from the patient while the patient is ambulatory using said ambulatory physiological monitor;
• storing the physiological data acquired from the patient in said storage device while the patient is ambulatory, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• analyzing the physiological data stored in the storage device, using said analysis software, to provide physiological information;
• and
• communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition through a cellular telephone system using said wireless data modem, wherein the step of communicating with said remote computer system includes transmitting said physiological information to said remote computer system, wherein the step of transmitting said physiological information to said remote computer system is executed in response to a request from said remote computer system.

An ambulatory physiological monitor for recording physiological data from a patient for a subsequent medical diagnosis of the patient, comprising:

• a housing;
• a storage device mounted in said housing for storing physiological data and analysis software;
• a circuit, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for receiving a physiological signal representative of a physiological parameter of an ambulatory patient from a transducer attached to the ambulatory patient, for converting said physiological signal to said physiological data and for transferring said physiological data to said storage device, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• and
• a wireless data modem, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition by transferring said physiological data from said storage device to the remote computer system through a cellular telephone system, wherein said circuit includes means responsive to a request by the remote computer system for initiating transmission of said physiological information to the remote computer system by said wireless data modem.

An ambulatory physiological monitor for recording physiological data from a patient for a subsequent medical diagnosis of the patient, comprising:

• a housing;
• a storage device mounted in said housing for storing physiological data and analysis software;
• a circuit, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for receiving a physiological signal representative of a physiological parameter of an ambulatory patient from a transducer attached to the ambulatory patient, for converting said physiological signal to said physiological data and for transferring said physiological data to said storage device, said physiological data representing the patient's condition;
• and
• a wireless data modem, mounted in said housing and coupled to said storage device, for communicating with a remote computer system as to the patient's condition by transferring said physiological data from said storage device to the remote computer system through a cellular telephone system, wherein said circuit includes means for initiating transmission of said physiological information to the remote computer system at predetermined intervals.

A method for recording and analyzing physiological data from a patient, comprising the steps of:

• attaching an ambulatory physiological monitor containing a storage device to an ambulatory patient;
• acquiring physiological data from the patient while the patient is ambulatory using said ambulatory physiological monitor;
• storing the physiological data acquired from the patient in said storage device while the patient is ambulatory;
• storing analysis software in said storage device;
• removing said storage device from said ambulatory physiological monitor and attaching said storage device to a computer;
• transferring at least a portion of said analysis software from said storage device to said computer when said storage device is attached to said computer;
• and
• analyzing the physiological data stored in said storage device with said computer, wherein the step of analyzing the physiological data is performed with the analysis software transferred from said storage device to said computer.

A method for recording and analyzing physiological data from a patient, comprising the steps of:

• attaching an ambulatory physiological monitor containing a wireless data modem and a storage device to an ambulatory patient;
• acquiring physiological data from the patient while the patient is ambulatory using said ambulatory physiological monitor;
• storing the physiological data acquired from the patient in said storage device while the patient is ambulatory;
• storing analysis software in said storage device;
• transferring said physiological data and at least a portion of said analysis software to a remote computer system through a cellular telephone system using said wireless data modem;
• and
• analyzing the physiological data with the remote computer with the analysis software transferred from said ambulatory physiological monitor to the remote computer system.