Patent ID: 7801605

Claim:
A portable defibrillator comprising a main housing containing defibrillator circuitry and a disposable sub-housing removably fitted to the main housing, the sub-housing comprising an electrode storage location containing a pair of defibrillator electrodes, at least one battery within said sub-housing for powering the defibrillator circuitry, and a connector for electrically connecting the sub-housing to the main housing, wherein the connector has power output terminals for connecting the at least one battery to the defibrillator circuitry and at least one high voltage input terminal for receiving a defibrillation voltage to be applied to the electrodes, wherein the electrodes are electrically connected by a frangible connection which is broken when the electrodes are deployed from the storage location, and wherein the defibrillator circuitry determines when the frangible connection is broken to complete a power circuit in the main housing for energizing the electrodes.