CardioBeeper Heart Monitor
date: label: date made
content: About 1980
name: label: maker
content: Survival Technology Inc.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Rectangular and gray plastic, marked "CardioBeeper Heart Monitor." Three buttons are located on the front of the monitor, respectively marked "Test," "Beep," and "ECG." On the upper right side of the CardioBeeper is a red light recessed into a red triangle, and just below is a green light recessed into a green square. Two black electrodes with wires are stored in the back of the device. One black wire is marked "left," and the white wire is marked "right." The beeper is stored in a zippered brown plastic case with black trim. The case is marked "Survival Technology Inc: Bethesda MD."
label: Description (Brief)
content: The CardioBeeper was Invented by Stanley J. Sarnoff, M.D. (1917-1990). His most recognized invention is the Epi-Pen. Sarnoff founded the Rodana Research Corporation and its successor Survival Technology Inc. is a subsidiary of Meridian Technologies, which itself is a subsidiary of Pfizer. The original request to patent the CardioBeeper was filed in 1973 and the patent was issued in 1976. CardioBeeper received FDA approval in 1981. CardioBeeper was produced and manufactured during the 1980s, and was used by patients to monitor their heart rate. As a battery powered, hand held device, the CardioBeeper could be used by patients to monitor their heart rate and transmit their data via the telephone to their doctor. The two electrodes are placed under the armpits of the patient, and the physician and patient stay in contact as the data is transmitted by telephone.
label: Description
content: With a CardioBeeper, patients could monitor their heart rate and transmit their data via the telephone to their doctor. The “Survival Technology, Inc. Bethesda, Md.” inscription on the case of this example refers to a firm that was established in 1964 by Stanley J. Sarnoff (1917-1990), a Harvard Medical School graduate who helped establish the Laboratory of Cardiology Physiology at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda. Dr. Sarnoff also founded the Rodana Research Corp. in 1958, and he invented the Epi-Pen.
label: Description
content: Ref: “Stanley J. Sarnoff, 72, Cardiologist and Inventor,” New York Times (May 25, 1990), p. D18.
label: Description
content: “Stanley J. Sarnoff, Founder of Heart Research Lab, Dies,” Washington Post (May 25, 1990), p. C8.
label: Description
content: “Survival Tech Gets a Shot in the Arm,” Washington Post (July 25, 1983), pp. WB1 and 32.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Bethesda
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Steve W. Lett
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2011.0111.01
label: accession number
content: 2011.0111
label: catalog number
content: 2011.0111.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Cardio Beeper
label: Object Name
content: CardioBeeper
label: Object Name
content: heart monitor
label: Object Name
content: cardiology
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic; metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, monitor: 4 3/8 in x 2 3/4 in x 1 1/8 in; 11.1125 cm x 6.985 cm x 2.8575 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, case: 4 3/4 in x 2 7/8 in x 1 5/8 in; 12.065 cm x 7.3025 cm x 4.1275 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10.6 cm x 5.6 cm x 2.3 cm; 4 3/16 in x 2 7/32 in x 29/32 in