Patent ID: 8688189

Claim:
A disposable programmable cardiac test patch that performs non-invasive monitoring of a person's ECG, comprising: a self adhering surface of said patch that secures said patch to a selected location on the body of said person; a battery; at least two electrodes that directly electrically contact the person's skin at said location and that receive surface ECG signals therefrom when said patch is secured at said location; a waterproof adhesive that adheres said patch to said person's skin for long term wear thereon; an amplifier electrically coupled to said electrodes for amplifying said received ECG signals; a processor that is programmed to perform real-time ECG signal processing and further performs signal averaging of a periodic ECG segment for enhancing details of said received ECG signals to enable detection of subtle changes in said person's ECG signal pattern that result from said person taking a cardioactive medication; a memory coupled to said processor for storing at least one programmable monitoring parameter for processing by said processor; means for customizing said at least one programmable monitoring parameter to said person or to an individual group that is being monitored, said customization being performed by any of a physician, a clinician, or a medical researcher; and means that receive a wireless programming signal, representing said at least one programmable monitoring parameter, from an external programming device and that load said wireless programming signal representing said at least one programmable monitoring parameter into said memory; and a flexible, unitary substrate that incorporates said amplifier, said processor, said battery, said memory, and said electrodes into said patch; wherein said patch has a thickness of less than 3.0 mm.