A hand-holdable structure implementing electrodes to enable good
skin-electrode contact to acquire ECG readings is disclosed. Specifically,
the structure is shaped to enable patients to apply a simple gentle grip
to have a reliable skin-electrode contact and to automatically commence
ECG tracing transmission to a patient monitoring station. In one
embodiment the structure incorporates an RF telemetry head to
simultaneously transfer IMD stored data in conjunction with the ECG
tracings. The structure independently or in combination with the RF
telemetry head is adaptable to a system of data communications with a
programmer or equivalent instrument to transfer ECG and IMD data to a
remotely located physician station or patient data storage server. The
system is also adaptable for use with a web-enabled network such as,
without limitation, the Internet, intranet, World Wide Web, extranet or
equivalent.
