System and method for portable implantable device interogation

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes memory that stores at least a portion of the medical data received from the implantable medical device.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes a processor that generates an interrogation signal, the portable interrogation device transmitting the interrogation signal by wireless communication, wherein the implantable medical device is responsive to the interrogation device to transmit the medical data at the first transmission speed.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 , wherein the implantable medical device transmits the medical data with a first data format, and the portable interrogation device transmits the medical data with a second data format.

Claim 6

The system of claim 1 , wherein the second data transmission speed is at least one thousand times greater than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 7

The system of claim 1 , wherein the second data transmission speed is at least one hundred times greater than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 8

The system of claim 1 , wherein the second data transmission speed is at least ten times greater than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 9

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device being selectively connectable to the data processing device for transmission of at least a portion of the medical data.

Claim 10

The system of claim 1 , wherein the second communication path conforms to the RS-232 standard.

Claim 11

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes removable data storage media that stores the data transmitted by the implantable device.

Claim 12

The system of claim 10 , wherein the data processing device includes a drive for receiving the removable storage media.

Claim 13

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes a circuit that acquires ECG data from a patient.

Claim 14

The system of claim 12 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes a circuit that synchronizes the ECG data with marker data and electrogram data obtained from the patient.

Claim 15

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes a first connector and the data processing device includes a second connector that corresponds to the first connector to operatively couple the portable interrogation device with the data processing device.

Claim 16

The system of claim 1 , wherein the implantable medical device is a cardiac stimulating device.

Claim 17

The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical data comprises physiological data relating to cardiopulmonary function.

Claim 18

The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical data comprises operational parameters of the implantable medical device.

Claim 19

The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical data comprises information on the status of internal programmable parameters of the cardiac stimulating device.

Claim 20

The system of claim 15 , wherein the medical data indicates the occurrence of physiological events and the responses of the cardiac stimulating device thereto.

Claim 21

The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable interrogation device includes a display for displaying the data after it is received from the implantable medical device.

Claim 22

A portable medical data communications device for delivering data from an implantable medical device to a data processing device, the portable medical data communications device comprising: a control circuit that controls wireless transmission of interrogation instructions to an implantable medical device; a transmitter that transmits the interrogation instructions to the implantable medical device upon direction of the control circuit; a receiver that receives data transmitted by the implantable medical device in response to the interrogation instructions, the data being transmitted by wireless communication at a first data transmission speed; a memory associated with the receiver that stores the data received from the implantable medical device; and an electronic communications interface associated with the receiver that delivers at least a portion of the stored data to a data processing device, the delivery of the stored data occurring at a second data transmission speed higher than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 23

A portable medical data communications device for delivering data from an implantable medical device to a data processing device, the portable medical data communications device comprising: a control circuit that controls wireless transmission of interrogation instructions to an implantable medical device; a transmitter that transmits the interrogation instructions to the implantable medical device upon direction of the control circuit; a receiver that receives data transmitted by the implantable medical device in response to the interrogation instructions, the data being transmitted by wireless communication at a first data transmission speed; a memory associated with the receiver that stores the data received from the implantable medical device; and an electronic communications interface associated with the receiver that delivers at least a portion of the stored data to a data processing device, the delivery of the stored data occurring at a second data transmission speed higher than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 24

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , wherein the portable medical data communications device receives the medical data with a first data format and the portable medical data communications device transmits the medical data with a second data format.

Claim 25

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 wherein the electronic communications interface communicates the data to the data processing device using a wired communications path.

Claim 26

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , wherein the portable medical communications device delivers the data to the data processing device by wireless transmission.

Claim 27

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , further comprising: a telemetry circuit that formats the interrogation instructions for telemetric transmission; and a telemetry head that telemetrically transmits the formatted instructions to the implantable medical device and receives the data from the implantable medical device.

Claim 28

The portable medical data communications device of claim 25 , wherein the telemetry head is included in a telemetry wand external to the portable medical data communications device, the telemetry wand being connected to the portable medical data communications device by a wire.

Claim 29

The portable medical data communications device of claim 26 , further comprising a detector circuit that detects when the telemetry wand is in a suitable position relative to the implantable medical device to transmit the interrogation instructions or receive the data.

Claim 30

The portable medical data communications device of claim 25 , wherein the telemetry head is internal to the portable medical data communications device.

Claim 31

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , further comprising: a battery that powers the portable medical data communications device; and a battery indicator that notifies a patient of the status of power of the battery.

Claim 32

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , wherein the memory for storing the data received from the implantable medical device includes a RAM circuit.

Claim 33

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , further comprising a rewritable memory for storing the interrogation instructions.

Claim 34

The portable medical data communications device of claim 31 , wherein the portable medical data communications device stores in the rewritable memory programming instructions for setting operational parameters of the implantable medical device, the programming instructions being delivered to the portable medical data communications device by the data processing device using a communications bus, and the programming instructions being transmitted to the implantable medical device by the portable medical data communications device using the transmitter.

Claim 35

The portable medical data communications device of claim 21 , further comprising a circuit for acquiring ECG data from the patient.

Claim 36

The portable medical data communications device of claim 33 , further comprising a display for displaying the ECG data after it is acquired.

Claim 37

The portable interrogation device of claim 33 , further comprising a circuit that synchronizes the ECG data with marker data and electrogram data obtained from the patient.

Claim 40

The method of claim 36 , wherein the portable medical data communications device formats the interrogation instructions for telemetric transmission and the first data transmission speed is a speed associated with communication using wireless telemetry.

Claim 41

The method of claim 36 , wherein the portable medical communications device delivers at least a portion of the stored medical data to the data processing device using a wired communication interface and the second data transmission speed is a speed associated with communication using the wired communication interface.

Claim 42

The method of claim 36 , further comprising transmitting programming instructions from the portable medical data communications device to the implantable medical device, the programming instructions setting an operational parameter of the implantable medical device.

Claim 43

The method of claim 39 , further comprising generating the programming instructions based on a message sent from the data processing device to the portable medical data communications device using an electronic communications bus.

Claim 44

The method of claim 40 , further comprising generating the message sent from the data processing device to the portable medical data communications device based on a result of the data processing device processing the stored medical data received by the data processing device.

Claim 45

The method of claim 36 , further comprising displaying on a display at least a portion of the medical data received from the implantable medical device.

Claim 46

The method of claim 42 , further comprising: prior to delivering at least a portion of the stored medical data to the data processing device, transmitting further interrogation instructions from the portable medical data communications device to the implantable medical device based on an input by a patient; receiving further medical data at the portable medical data communications device; and storing in the memory the further medical data received.

Claim 47

A portable medical data communications device for retrieving data from an implantable medical device, the portable medical data communications device comprising: a processor that controls transmission of instructions to an implantable medical device; a transmitter that transmits by wireless telemetry the instructions to the implantable medical device upon direction of the processor; a receiver that receives by wireless telemetry data transmitted by the implantable medical device in response to the instructions, the data being transmitted at a first data transmission speed; a memory associated with the receiver that stores the data received from the implantable medical device; a data processing device for processing data from the implantable medical device; and a wired communication interface that operatively couples the memory to the data processing device, the wired communication interface being used for delivering at least a portion of the stored data from the memory to the data processing device at a second data transmission speed higher than the first data transmission speed.

Claim 48

A portable medical data communications device for retrieving data from an implantable medical device, the portable medical data communications device comprising: a processor that controls transmission of instructions to an implantable medical device; a transmitter that transmits by wireless telemetry the instructions to the implantable medical device upon direction of the processor; a receiver that receives by wireless telemetry data transmitted by the implantable medical device in response to the instructions, the data being transmitted at a first data transmission speed; a memory associated with the receiver that stores the data received from the implantable medical device; a data processing device for processing data from the implantable medical device; and a wired communication interface that operatively couples the memory to the data processing device, the wired communication interface being used for delivering at least a portion of the stored data from the memory to the data processing device at a second data transmission speed higher than the first data transmission speed.