Repeater device for communications with an implantable medical device

A method of providing data between a medical device coupled to a patient and a repository, comprising the steps of:

• retrieving the data from the medical device;
• storing the data once it has been received;
• detecting a condition of a wireless radio frequency connection to send the data over;
• and
• transmitting the data over the wireless radio frequency connection when the condition of the wireless radio frequency connection is adequate for transmission.

A repeater for relaying data to a repository from a medical device coupled to a patient, comprising:

• a receiver configured to communicate with the medical device to obtain the data;
• a memory to maintain the data once it has been received;
• a transmission device configured to send the data over a communication medium;
• and
• a processing device configured to detect a degree of urgency by analyzing the data to detect health conditions of the patient, and trigger the transmission device to send the data to the repository at a time based on the degree of urgency.

A method of providing data between a medical device coupled to a patient and a repository, comprising the steps of:

• retrieving the data from the medical device;
• storing the data once it has been received;
• detecting a degree of urgency by analyzing the data to detect health conditions of the patient;
• and
• determining a time to transmit the data over the communications medium based on the detected degree of urgency.

A repeater for providing data between a medical device coupled to a patient and a repository, comprising the steps of:

• means for retrieving the data from the medical device;
• means for storing the data once it has been received;
• means for detecting a degree of urgency of the data, wherein the means for detecting the degree of urgency analyzes the data to detect health conditions of the patient;
• and
• means for determining a time to transmit the data over the communications medium based on the detected degree of urgency.

A system for sending data from a medical device to a data repository, the system comprising:

• a medical device coupled to a patient;
• a data repository;
• and
• a repeater having:
• a receiver for receiving data from the medical device,
• a memory device for storing the data,
• a transmission device capable of sending the data to the data repository, and
• a processing device configured to detect a degree of urgency by analyzing the data to detect health conditions of the patient, and trigger the transmission device to send the data at a time based on the degree of urgency.