Portable integrated physiological monitoring system

A portable, human subject, physiological monitoring system for clinical outpatient environments, the system comprising:

• a) at least one physiological sensor configured to be attached to the human subject, sense a physiological parameter of the human subject, and produce a signal representing the physiological parameter;
• b) a portable electronics unit, coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to be separate from the human subject, and having circuitry connected to the at least one sensor to acquire and process the signal from the at least one sensor;
• and
• c) a portable personal computer, separate from and coupled to the electronics unit, to control the electronics unit in real-time and to receive information from the electronics unit, the portable personal computer having an application program executable thereon to produce a command to send to the electronics unit to initiate acquisition of the signal from the at least one sensor, and having:
• i) a display configured to display the information from the electronics unit;
• ii) an interface configured to receive user input;
• and
• iii) a data storage configured to contain existing information related to the human subject and to store information acquired such that existing and new information are integrated.

A method for obtaining, displaying and integrating human subject physiological information from a human subject, comprising the steps of:

• a) attaching a physiological sensor to the human subject;
• b) disposing a portable electronics unit adjacent the human subject, but separate from the human subject, and connecting the physiological sensor to the portable electronics unit;
• c) connecting a portable personal computer to the electronics unit;
• d) operating an application program executable on the portable personal computer to send a command to the electronics unit to initiate acquisition of the physiological parameter;
• e) sensing the physiological parameter and producing a signal using the physiological sensor;
• f) manipulating the signal using the electronics unit;
• g) communicating the sensed parameter to the portable personal computer;
• and
• h) displaying the parameter on a display of the portable personal computer;
• and storing the parameter in the data storage of the portable personal computer.