Patent ID: 8639319

Claim:
A cardiac monitoring system for ambulatory patients including an ECG monitor comprising: a nonconductive watertight case; a rechargeable battery located in the case; an ECG signal processor located in the case and having an input for receiving ECG signals from a patient; a memory, located in the case, for storing processed ECG signal information; a wireless transceiver, located in the case and coupled to the ECG signal processor, and operable to wirelessly transmit ECG signal information to a receiver; a user interface, located on the outside of the case and electrically coupled to one or more components inside the case, the user interface comprising only a plurality of electrical contacts; and a power management circuit operable to sense both of a connection of the ECG monitor to an external charging dock and that the ECG monitor is electrically coupled to receive patient ECG signals, wherein the power management circuit is further operable to switch to a low power consumption state when the monitor is not coupled to receive patient ECG signals and not connected for charging the rechargeable battery, and further wherein the power management circuit switches to a high power state responsive to the sensed connection for charging.