Patent ID: 9177459
Filing Date: 2015-11-03
Classification: A61B,G08B,G16H

Abstract:
1. A personal emergency response system apparatus, comprising: a portable housing sized and configured to be hand carried, held in pocket, or removably attached to a human user or clothing worn by the user; at least one processor; processor-accessible memory; processor-implementable computer instructions stored in the processor-accessible memory; a cellular telephone transmitter or cellular telephone transceiver operably linked to the processor; a speaker operably linked to the processor; an electrocardiographic monitoring circuit operably linked to the processor; electrocardiographic monitoring electrodes operably connected to the electrocardiographic monitoring circuit, said electrodes being at least partially externally disposed for contact with the user's body; and a user input device operably linked to the processor, wherein the at least one processor, the processor-accessible memory, the cellular telephone transmitter or transceiver and the electrocardiographic monitoring circuit are disposed within the housing, wherein said computer instructions are configured to direct the at least one processor to perform the steps of: transmitting the electrocardiographic data obtained from a user using the apparatus to at least one remote recipient using the cellular telephone transmitter or transceiver, and in response to operation of the user input device, transmitting an emergency alert message to at least one remote recipient using the cellular telephone transmitter or transceiver, wherein the apparatus is configured to automatically initiate electrocardiographic data recording in response to a drop in impedance between the ECG electrodes when said electrodes are contacted with the user's body, and wherein the apparatus is configured to audibly indicate to the user via the speaker when proper contact with the user's skin to detect an ECG signal is made.