CA2158552C - Biomedical response monitor-exercise equipment and technique - Google Patents

Abstract

A heartbeat monitor includes a transmitting unit which emits a coded digital signal with transmitter identification and data portions to a receiver (46) which passes the signal to an evaluating circuit (48) to check the signal for proper identification, to check for data errors if proper, altering transmission frequency with a signal from transmitter (54) if frequent errors are detected, and storing (50) or displaying (52) the data signal.

Description

Wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 ~1585~2 BIOMEDICAL RESPONSE MONITOR - l~XERCISE
EQUIPMENT AND TECHNlQUE

Dese~ tion Field of the Invention This invention relates to a tcchniquc and apparatus for whelei,~ly moni-toring a physical condition or body response such as heartbeat, and more particularly to such a technique and apparatus in which errors due to in-terfering sources arc minimi7f~ or eliminated and in which improvcd ac-curacy results due to error detcction and co, I ~ ~lion in the pattern representing the body responsc. The invention also relates to controlled e~cercise equipment using this wirelcss monitor.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26~
-

2~$8~ %

Back~round Art .

For many applicatio~;s ~ n~ces~san~ ~(7 meacul-e and display a pers(7n s body response such~as hic (7r her hcarll~ In par~icular in cxcrcisc ancl fitness training it is often ~he ~itua~ioll thal a person wicl1es ~o measure hi~ or her hear~hcat in or<ler ~o achieve ~hc m axilnulll bencrlLc Or tile excr-cisc wi~hou~ ~llC dangcr of inclea~ g ~hc heal~hea~ ~o a ra~e ~vhere ad~erse effec~s could occul Of course SUCIl measurcmcnt~ arc also userul for many heal~ll applicationc SUCIl as l i(~ee(lback and excrcise plogr7lnlc where the plr-icil7ant~ only mil(lly e~ercicc an(l do no~ apl-loacll greatly eleYa~cd heart rates O~cr the yeal s ~ ariouc lyr~es Or cquiplllcn~ have beell marke~ed for the measurelllcllt of he~r~ rate sucll insllulllellts hehlg 1't'-ular in a wide varic~y or al7l71ica~ions exten(ling fi om all h~rms or excrcise to biofeedback. Con~inuouc accura~c hcar~ mcasurcmcllt is an important part of all acrobic exercisc an(l lehahili~a~ion l7r0grams and * r tllis reason many types Or apparatus have been commercially availal~le for pcrsonal use by individuals and in rltness clubs etc. Somc of this cquir~mcnt in-cludes heart ra~e moni~ors tha~ are usc~l ~o con~rol the in~ensi~y (7f thc workout based on Ihe u~er s mcasurc~l hear~ ra~e. As will ~c ~liscus~al later the T7roblem Or l7roviding a goo(l moni~or neces~arily aFFect~s the quality of an e~crcise ~7ro~ram that is re~l-onsive n- a mcasurc(l heart ratc Some o~ the most l70pl~1;lr llear~bca~ ml)lli~or desi~ns use wirelccs data ~ransmissi(7n from a scnsor-t-rallsmi~el uni~ ~n a disl71ny uni~ This ~ype or dcsign allo\vc 0ptimal nll(l fle~ihle p~lciliollillg Or i7ntll (Illi~.C Wllile 110 limiling a pel~lln s freedoln ~lf mo~;elllellt Unfolnlllalely the increasing populali~y ~r lle~l~ Illeac~llenlcll~ 1lelefille t~le ~I~;e ~r ~lle.ce llealt IllOlli~OI~ e~l tlle ~ c ~r c~lllclllly a~ le (le~i~;llc ~11 e!~71lnl 1e ic tll~ lec~ errelell~e crrccl.c 1-~ llel~ .1 r~ercoll wcarin& a he:lll mollilor i~ in cl~cc l~roxillli~y to anolllci r-er~on ~vearin~ an(lrller he;ll l mollilol . l~he.ce reol-le rllll the rick th;lt ~lleir incli-vklual monilor rca(lin~ rc inrlllence~l by llle mollitor wolll l-y lhe otlle r~r~on. I;ul~ r, i~ i~ e~ llly fl~l.c~ :1 rel~ e.lli~ a lle;lll moni~or lo rm(l ~ha~ electn m;l~nc~ic e(luirllllell~ Or all tyre~, ~ucll a~ excr-ci~c equil~menl, r-o~ver line~; erc. ~ill creatc eleclloma~llctic ffekl~.; tl~t in-SlJB~TlTIlTE SHEET IRULE 26~

wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 ~ 2158~52 ~erfer~ witll th~ succes~rul ~rflnsmi~i.cioll (rf llis Or her he~lLheal, ~herebycausing an erratic dicplay whicll i~ ullcolrcctahle wi~hout moving away from the interfering exercice e4uipmenL, po~er lines, e~c.

Various types of wii~le.is meacuring metllo(ls h;tve heen proi osed. Some of these are based on radio waves wllilc othel~ u.ce a magnclic proximity filel(l. Mos~ of Lhese r)rior teclllliq-le.c lran~smiL an analo~, ECG cignal of a person. Howcvcr, as noteci, thece p rior lcchniques an(i arparatus are nnt simùltancously usable by several i ercons in clo.ce proximity to one anolller or by pe.:,ons who are usin~, sucll ai pala~llc in clo.~e l-roximity to elec~rical or clectronic equi~ment. In sucll ca~e.c, the relial~ility of ttansmicsion of hearlbeal is significan~ly redllced witll the re~ui~ ~ha~ a conLinuous an(l accuratc moni~oring or thc healtl~cat is nO longer p o~ le. ~s ic readily appreciatcd, this lack o~relial~ilil)~ ic a pr(ll~lcm for allynnc using ~llc monitor and is cspecially ~iisconccl~ t~) a i~erson who is exercising to a level where his Or her hQaltbeal i.s cloce tn llle maximum desile(l ~or tllat person.

Examples of some ilrior at~t monitorc inclu~le U.S. 4,625,733; U.S.
4,425,921; U.S. 3,212,49-,; an(l U.S. 3,949,388. Thc rlr~tofthccc(le~c,il)es a hearlbcat monitor u.~ing a magnctic proximity fiekl a~ a bacic for analog wireless tran~mission, where a p articul;ll srl.~ emell~ o~ magne~ic coil.c ic use~i in thetran.~mitLer and llle receivel units.

U.S. 4,42.~,921 (le.ccribe.c a portal-le llealtl-e;ll moni~ol ~hicll can he use(l ro check ciLher p ulse rale vr hearl r;l~e U.Citl~ cepala~e cen.corc fior (le~ec~
heal'~l~ea~ all(l plllCe he.ll. l'lle ~Ipp;ll';lttlS Sh:ll'ec a COlmlllOIl ill(liCa~l~l for lisplaying lllc llearll~ea~ rale Ol ~ e be~l r;lte (lepcll(lin~ llpOn a 5~'itCllmean~ for connectillg cill~er (tf ~he sell~ To n micl.-cl~l"pllter. Analog signalc arc uce(l in tllic m(ltlilol, ~llicll (I~-e~ n(ll u.ce wil-ele.cc tr.ln.cmi.ccio hetween a transnlillel all(l r eceiver.

U.S. 3,212,49- (ie.~crihes all appatatllsfor Sillllllt.ttlCOItSIy me~clttin~ ECG, re~piralion raLe, an(l re.cr)ir.llioll vollttlle. ~ pait ..r elecLIO(le~ 0n or i,. ..
persoll'.C ho(ly h~ve culten~ pa~e(l tl~erel-etweell an~l ~en~e all impe(l tnce SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26~

5S~

clIangc and a hearLbe3~ v(llla~e A rre(l~1ellcy mo~lulaLe~l ~ign~l can Lhcll be Lelemetered to a rccciving an(1 (1ispla5~ unit O

U S 3,949,388 describes a rortahle 3r~r~alaLus t11aL can be u~cd for analog biomcdical telemetry, an<l i~ r)ar~icularl~ 3~i3r)~e~1 for use in a ho~pital where cach scnsor-transmi~cl unit i~ uce~l On a ~in~,lc r~a~ient an~l will no~
normally bc u~cd on anothcr pa~iellL Thc ~ransmi~cr i~ dcsigncd to produce a very n3rrow rrequency spcc~rl11Il where a stca(ly pulsc ratc ac-cura~cly rel,re~ents thc mcas~ emperalu1e ar ~he pa~icnl. In ordcr to avoid in~crference from a(ljacent uni~, thc receiver uni~ i~ locatcd within only a few feel of lhQ tran~mi~ing uni~ ~l1rthcr, a vcry 1OW power con-~inuously scnding transmil~ing uni~ i~ u~c(l SO that t)nly IIIC closest receivcrwill detecL ~hc ana1Og signal Thi~ a~oi(lx ~h~ po~ihi1ily lhat thc recciver will pick up signa1s from anolhcr lrans1Ili~ter Thus, thc sclcctivi~y of the receiver is base(l on iL~ cloce proximi~y lo ~he a~sociatc(1 Iransmit~cr unit, not on any circuilry which woukl pre~ent in~erference by a transmit~er broadc~cting a high powcr ~ignal, c~cn ~Ioug1l such inlerrering transmiltcr may bc rar away. Funhcr, the frequency range intende(l ror opcration is se1ccted to bc vcry narrow. A~ noted in ~hi~ r~a~en~, frequency ~ ,ing can occur duc to saturation of a transi~lor in the oscillator circuit. In order ~o prevent this undesirab1e frequency ~wecping, an isolaling impcdance is used in ~hc circuit (lesign to preven~ feedbac1c currcnt Or the ty~e which cau~e.s the transistor s~turalion U.S 5,157,~.04 ~3escribe~ a llo~l~ilal moni~olin~ ~y~em in which many Ina-lienl ~r3nsmi~lcr unil~ are cour)1e(1 ~o a cent~ t3lion Wirele~s tran~-mission Or ~ sigll.11 inclu(ling a1I i(1enlirler an(l he:1l11-eal (lala occurs rrom eac1I palielll U11i~ ~O lhe centl ~ aliolI ~clI l-~lienl unil ~r:lnsmit~ on il~
own frequency ~o ~hele will he nO hlle1re1ence bet~een llle p a~ielIl units Tlle le~r~t)ll~t~ Or lllt I a~it~lll tllIit~ ~ltr ~ ltr 1~ lt~e(1, ~illCt~ ~11e~t~ units resr~on(l ~o ~he ccnlral ctatil~n onl!~ hl rec1-oll~e to the reccir l of ~ liming cignal from lhe cenllal ~tation Error d~tecli~1l ali(l correction Or ~n in-COrl-GCL hcarlhe.lL ~luetn raullvtlan.cmi.c.ci--n ic nol menLione(l.

In ~1e T-riOr al~ InOn;~ 0~ n1ea~11t;11~ Y;I1~ heal~bea~, ;L ;.~
u~u311y 110l rlo.<i~ihle lo i rovi(le a lechni(~lle an~ a~ aratU~ ror (lclermilling SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26~

21~8~52 if thc rcceived signal in tllc display unit is from the propcrly associated transmitter unit or is instead from another transmitter unit. Further, if there are errors occurring in the data rcpresenting the heartbeat, such as mi~sing portions of the signal due to interference from outside sources, the display in these prior monitors will either indicate a wrong value, not in-dicak heartbcat, or maintain the previous reading without m~king the user aware of the problem. In these prior art monitors, there is no way to ac-count for transicnt crrors in hcartbeat which arc momcntarily caused but which do not necessarily rcnder inaccurate the later re~in~s of heartbeat.
If thcse prior art monitors arc used to control exercise equipment, there is a problem due to intcrference from the motors in the equipment and also from other monitors on equipment that is closely located to the user's e~-ercise equipment.

It is thc,~rorc a primary object of the present invention to provide an im-proved technique and apparatus for monitoring and displaying a l~io...P~lir~l funclion (body res,uonse) such as hesrtbeat, ~1,~ ~c;n the above-described problems are addressed and CO~ lcd and to provide e~-ercise e~ ip.~,ent using this improved apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved per-sonal use hcartbeat monitor which automatically rejects interfering signals from sensor-tr~n~mitter units other than the one with which the display unit is propc,ly associatcd, and exercise equipment using this heartbeat monitor.

It is another object of the prescnt invention to provide a heartbeat monitor in which thc prcsence of transicnt crrors in ~hc signal represcnting the heartbeat does not render inaccurate thc hcartbcat displayed to thc person wearing the monitor, and to usc this moni~or to control exercise equipment in accordance with the person's instantaneous heart rate.

It is anothcr object of this invention to provide a wiIclei~ heartbeat moni-tor which can be easily worn hy a person engagcd in all forms of physical e~cercise, and which will nonetheless provide accurate measurement of the person's heartbeat even in the prescncc Or othcr heartbcat monitors and/or SUBSTITUrE SHEET ~RULE 26) ~,lS85~2 , electrical or electronic equipment in which components of the moni~or arc loc~tPd.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved heart monitor in which a part of a person's ECG signal is digitally encoded for wheless tr~n~mi~ion to a receiver-display unit located in the e~cercise equipment, where the coding allows a receiver-display unit to identify the encoded digital signal as having been sent from a particular sensor-tr~n~mitter unit and exercise equipment using this monitor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a heartbeat monitor which will automatieally chan~e the frequency range over which signals rep.~se~ g the heartbeat are wirelessly sent from a sensor-transmitter unit to a receiver-display unit, the tr~n~mi~cion frequency being changed in rt;ayons~ to the oc-;urlc.lce of errors in the received signal and ~..c,,5e equipment using this monitor.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a teehnique and apparatus for monitoring heartbeat where the monitor ean be used in various envi-ronments in~ in~ eA. ,. ;s~ equipment without adversely affeeting the ae-euraey of the data displayed to the person using the monitor.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved techni~ue for iso}ating monitor signals relating to a biologieal funetion, such as heartbeat, wherein the monitored signals are digitally encoded to provide user identifiers that are wil~lessly transmitted, and to use this technique in improved e~cereise equipment.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide automatie trans-mission error detection and correetion in a wireless biological response monitoring system and to use this monitoring system to eontrol e~ereise equipment in accordance with a user's biological Ies~,onse.

It is another object of this invention to provkle an improved heartbeat monitor and teehnique, as well as exercise equi~7ment using this monitor and teehnique, in which non-repetitive errors in a heartbeat signal wirelessly transmitted do not affect the accuracy of the heartbeat that is displayed.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26 = =~ ~

~ ~158SS2 Brief Summary Of T}le Inven~ioll .

This invention broadly relates to an improved technique and monitor for measuring and displaying, preferably on a continuous basis, a physical condition or biomedic~l response, such as a heartbeat rate, as well as ex-ercise equiplllent using this improved technique and monitor. The monitor ineludes a transmitter unit for produeing an encoded digital signal repres-enting the biomedical response and for wirelessly tr~n~mittin~ the encoded digital signal to a receiver unit for display of the measured biomedical re-sponse. The monitor also includes a detection means for detecting errors in the reeeived encoded digital signal, and eorrection means for automat-ically eh~n~ing the tr~ncmitter unit and the reeeiver unit to provide aceu-rate wilcle." tr~n~ni~sion ther~bel-.ecn of the ll.easurcd biomedieal res~,onse. In a preferred embodiment this monitor in~lud~s unique iden-tifi~tion b~L~ n a transmitter and an accoei~ted le~i;~r.

This monitor is partieularly suitable for personal use sueh as would oceur in a home or offiee or even in a gym or fitness eenter where it ean be a part of e.~c..;se equiplnellt. In one embodiment, the tr~n~ r unit is adapted to be worn and would be battery operated while the reeeiver unit ean be part of exereise equipment and ean be used to control a workout in re-spdnse to a measured biological response. As long as the reeeiver is within the tr~ncmiscion distanee from the transmitter, it will reeeive the wilelessly tr~n~mittf ~1 signal. In one aspect of this invention the monitor measures a person's heartbeat and displays an indication of the monitored heartbeat. In this embodiment, the apparatus is comprised of a sensor-transmitter unit (chest unit) adapted to be worn in eontact with a person's chest and having electrodes which receive the person's ECG signal. This signal is amplified and digitally ~ncoded to contain an identification por-tion and a data portion. This encoded signal is transmitted in a whcl~ss manner to a receiver-display unit (wrist unit), where the reeeiver-display unit eontains a display for displaying the person's heartbeat. While the receiver-display portion of the moni~or can be adapted to be worn, for e~p.
on a person's wrist, this unit need not be worn and could be located else-where, for example, on exercise equipmen~. In one embodiment, SUBSTITIJTE SHEET (RULE 26~

WO 94/21171 PCT/US94tOZ770 2~$8S5~

the rcceivcr-display unit is uscd to control cxcrcisc c~uipmcnt in responsc to a continuous monitoring of the exercising person's biological r~sponse (heart rate, etc.). Further, while chest elcctrodes generally provide the best ECG signals, the transmitter unit could be placed elsewhere, such as on a person's wrist.

Beeause the person's ECG signal is digitized and encoded, two purposes can be aehieved. The first is than an identifieation is provided whieh is different for each heart monitor. That is, after the receiver-display unit reeeives the tr~ncmit~d eneoded signal, it ehecks this signal to see if it contains the proper identifieation eode. If this comparison fails, the in-coming signal to this unit is not aeeepted because it is not from the proper ehest unit. However, if the identification eompares with the referenee identification in the receiver unit, the incoming signal will be aeeepted.
This prevents two heart monitors working in elose pro~imity to eaeh other and tr~mittin~ on the same frequency from receiving and displaying signals from the wrong person.

The seeond purpose of the digital eneo~ing is to provide t~n~ n error ;on and colleelion of the heartbeat data. In praetiee, it is p~aible that a valid signal may be rejeeted by the receiver-display unit due to an ou~side noise souree. The data portion of the tr~n~mitt~ signal is there-fore eneoded into a particular bit sequence. When the ineoming data bit sequenee is eheclt~d against a referenee data bit sequenee in the reeeiver-display unit, errors in the received signal ean be deteetrd. The reeeiver unit ean be set so that infrequently oeeurring errors (sueh as transient er-rors) will be correeted but not result in a change of the transmitting and reeeiving units. On the other hand, if too many errors are present, the re-ceiver unit will notice it and provide a frequency change signal to change the tr~ncmiccion fre~uency in the chest unit and also to ehange the re-eeiving frequeney in the reeeiving unit. In a preferred embodiment the power of the fre~uency change signal is also increased to ensure that the frequeney change is made. While the receiving unit will automatically cause a change in frequency if persistent errors occur, the user can also change the tr~ncrnicsion and reeeption frequency if it is anticipated that a problem may occur. This featurc of a change in transmission and receivin~

SUBSTITUrE SHEET (RULE 26 Wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 ~1~8~2 frequency also allows thc u~c of multirle llnil~ in clo~e l~rt ximi~y ~ t ne another without rccil-rt. cal dis~llrbance.~.

The chest unit gellcrally contain~ an input ~en~or mean~ for receiving thc ECG signal, amr lifying means, coml arator mcans for l-roducing a dig;tal pulsc ~rain corresponding to thc analog ECG r)ul~c~, encodcr mcans for encoding ~he cligital l-ul~e train in~o co(led ~ignal~ having bi~s cor,~ ollti-ing lo an identification portion an(l furlhcr bit~ co"~sl-onding to a dala portion of said cncodc(l signal, an(l mcan~ lo rcccivc a frcqucncy change signal from the wrist (receiving) unit ror changillg thc ~ransmi~ting frc-quency of the chest uni~ This latter me:ln~ includes n receiver for receiving via wi,~lc~s transmi~ion the freqllency challge signal from the receivillg unit whcn thc transmission frequency i~ to b~ changcd ancl a signal evalu-ator for rcading the idcntification cnde in ~he frequency changc signal to detcrmine ~hat il is frotll tlle a~sociate(l reccivinE, unit an(i for providing a signal to thc lran~mht¢r means for changing ~he ~ransmission rrcqucncy for the outgoing signals from the chest unil. rarl Or the iden~ification sig-nal may serve for synchroniza~ion of a clock signal in the receiving and transmitting units.

The receiving unit broadly includes a receiver for rccciving outllu~ signal~
from the chest unit and a signal evaluator for scr~ala~ing ~hc identirlca~ion portion and the da~a ror~ion of thc incnmillg cnco~lc(l signal and for <le-tcrmining if the incoming sigllal i~ frOm lhc a~ ciatcd chc~t uni~ Thc signal evaluatnr also chccks ~hc (la~a r orlioll of ~he incoming ~ignal ~o clc-ir it lla~ llle Inror~er d ala r~allen~ for ll1Q a~ociatc(l che~t unil Thc~ignal cvalualol ruovi(le~ an outr)~ a mcmoly mean~ fOr ~toring healtbz~ da~a an(l al~o r)rovi(lc~ In ~-Utrlltth~ i CC~ lo ;l (~ y, ror di~l-layillg tllc h~allhca~ rale The ~igllal evalllator fullller l-rovi(le~ an oulr~ut lhal i~ sellt n- a ~r:lnmli~lel nleall~ Itlca~e(l h- thc rccciving uni~ ir the signal evalualor cleterminc~ that lhc rre~ ency Of crrol~ in lhe da ~lOrliOIl Or ~he illCOmitlg .~i~tl;ll i.~ eyOtl(l 1 ~!iY~Il h01ttl(l, ~ha~ , ir lhe i-i~
pat~ern~ indicate that llle erlol.~ are nOt mctely tt-all~iell~ hllt are sltrfi-ciently rer~elilive a~ rOvi(lc potetlti:llly inaccllrate moni~orill~ of r~cr-~on's heartheat. Thc output or the tr:ln~miller mean~ in tlle receiving Ullit i~ ~ent hl a ~virele.~.~ m tnnet lo llle recci~el in thc che~t Utlit. At thc ~amc SUBSTITUTE SHEET ~RULE 26~

time, the si~nal evaluator al~ r(lvi(lec ~ ci&nl:ll to lhe recei-~er in llle re-cciving unit to changc itc recer~tion fre(luency ~o m~tch thc ncw trans-mission frequency in ~hc chcct uni~ Thc rcccivill~ unit alco contains an input tcrminal by which thc uscr call dilectly initiatc a change in transmitter/receiver frequency, or can block atl automatic change of fre-quency in thc chcst and rcceiving unitc For example, thc uscr may sencc that the external condi~ion wliich ic caucing an error in thc rcccived cn-coded si~nal will soon ceasc co tha~ i~ ic no~ nececcary lo change frcquency Another si~ua~ion where a uscr may walll to ~reven~ a frequ~ncy change is where there arc mul~ir)le uccrc in cloce r roximi~y Ra~her than havc cv-cryonc's moni~or changc rrequency, sollle nlollilols can be hel(i a~ fixe(l frequencics while other monilors cllange fre(luency This design will overcome mos~ of the limila~ionc or the currenlly available wilcl~ hcart moni~orc ~klitinnally, it will comltensatc for minor errors and enablc thc user ~o avoicl certain error ~ourccs by purl-oscly changing the ~ransmission frcqucncy. or coursc, the user can allo~v thc monitor to automatically changc rrcqucncics. Sincc the range of ~he human heart rale is fairly rcstriclcd, this dc~ign allows tlle de~ec~ion Or uncc.",~ ablc errors by taking into accoun~ ~hc clapscd lime i.~ l two ~ cc(~rul data transmissions Since i~ is highly imr~robable tha~ ~he wris~ unit will receive thc correct identifica~ion ra~ern rrom a courcc o~her ~han lhe associatetl chesL unit, ~he user can have a very higll level Or confidence in the accuracy Or thc displayc~-i hcar~ ratc l his ic accomr ii~hed even thl)ugh ~he chect and receiving units are cei~ar,lte rrom ne allotller and communica~i-lherebetween ic via wirelesc translllicsioll Thc invention uses lhe inlrll~lve~l monih)l ~) contl~l ~xercice e~uir~menl in,c~,l once lo a meacure(l bionle(lical fUIlC~iOIl SUCIl ~}S lle:lr~ rate The re-ceivillg unil ic locate~ on tlle exclcice o(~ lllelll alld rro~iclec a contlol sign,ll lo change (increace or decleaxc) or m:lillrain lhe resic~ancc o~rere~l ~o lhe ucer by the exelcice e~3llil-mellt Thic r¢sic~ancc ic change(l in ac-cordance wilh ~he mcasurcd h~ar~ r a~e (r ~ exl- ) in a colltilluouc manncl to l~rovicle an excrcice wotk(llll incllt~litlg w;llm~ , cool-down an~i cuc-tained acrobic exercice ~SUBSTITUT~ SHEET (RULE 26 wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 ~lS8~2 Memory means and a micrnl-roces~ol ar~ e(l ~o maintain an ~ to-datc profile Or the cxcrcising T-crsoll an(l to con~inllousl~ regulate ~he rcsistanceof thc equipment in accor~lance ~ he u~er ~ in~tantancou~ hcart rate Identification mcans allows thc user ~o i(lcnliry himselr or hcrself to the excrcise equipment in order to have ~he eyuir)lnen~ acces~ the proper exer-cise profile from memory A<l(liti(?nal memor~ r)rovidcd to allow the uscr to enter a dirrerent exercisc l-rorile ir il is no~ desired to use the cxcr-cise prorlle alrcady store(l in memory ~n inp~lt control lo the micro-processor allows the user to over r i(le all)~ prorllc con~rol ~haL the mic,.,r)locessor would usually ~clecl Thc invention is most useful in the case Or l-ersonal use ¢4uipmen~ wllich allows thQ uscr to have comr)lete mol~ilil$~ while un~lelgoing h~artbeat monitoring Ths various comronen~ or lhe chcct an(l wrist unit~ are casily providcd by known mic..,cl~clronic inte~rate(l circui~ chips tha~ can bc packaged ~oge~her in small volume an(l ba~tery opera~e(l. Thc major usc of ~his monitor will be ror con~inuous (lisl-lay (luring r~ersonal ac~ivitics byan individual, including ex~ ;sc, biorecdhack, an(l general h~alth moni-toring In thesc activities wi~l .:~transmission will be ovcr a relativcly short range, particularly if ho~h thetransmitter and receiver units are worn or if the receiving unit is locate~l in thc cxerci~e equil~ment These an<l other objccts, featurcs, an(l a(lvalll;lge~ ~vill l~e apr arent from ~hc rollowing more par~iclllal (lescrir)~ioll Or ~he r)rererle(l cmb~3imcnts Brier Descriptioll Or tlle Dr~will~s ~ig. I i~ ~ ~cll~m.l~ic i~ tla~ r tlI~ ol Or Ille l-le~c invelltioll, 'illO~Villg t ch (t~ Ullit) a 1 the ~vrisl tlllil ((lisr)la~) whicll reccives ~he sigllal rrom ~lle ch~ mil Yi~ a ~ireless transmission an~l ~lisr~lay.s ~he healtl-e;l~ )rthe l encoll heing m~nitole(l.

Fig. 2 sh~ws a ~yl~ical ECG signal an(l the lr.lill Or (ligital l UISES rer~re.s-enting each Or th~ analng l-ulses hl the ECG sigllal.

SUBSTITlJTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 94121171 PCT/US94tO2770 ~S855~

Fig. 3A ~ho~s a typical format Of thc cnco~le~l digital signal wirclessly tran~mittcd from thc chcs~ unit lo tlle ~ri~i~ uni~, Ihi~ digital signal con-sisting of a synchronization l7art, an i(lcn~ifica~ion rart uniquc ~o this par-ticular chcst monitor and a dala ~7~ t unique to ~hc r)erson's heartbcat.

Fig. 3B re~-resent~ a .sequence of hi~s co~ .on(lillg to the (l~ta part of the outgoing <ligital signal from Ihe chest unit (Fi~. I) whele aach data part is rer~resentcd a.s a two-bit binary coclc in ~his cxaml-lc.

Fig. 4 is a schematic illu~tra~ion of ~he chesl ullil in morc delail, showing ~hc varioùs comr~oncllt~ Or thi.c Ullil.

Fig. 5 is a schcmalic illu.slr3lion t~ tlle wri~t unit in morc dclail, showing thc components compri~ing thi~ unil.

Fig. 6 is a ~chcmatic illu~ration of a modirle~l cllest unit, wher~ ~he cn-codcd digital ~ignal re~rc~cnts the îull hcarlbcat ratc.

~ig. 7 schcmalically illustrates ~he use of Ihi~ invcntivc moni~or ~o control c~r~;sc cquipmcnt in accnrdancc w i~h a US~ Ileal~ rate.

Fig. 8 shnws thc vario~ comr~onenl~ of tlle receiver-con~roller unil in ~he excrci~e cquil-menl der)icte(l in Fi~. 7.

Detailed Descriplioll Or lhe Preferrcd Eml)od illlellls The r~raclice (lf this invellliol~ ill be rerre~cllt¢~l 17y ~he exanir~le of a heal~bea~ monilor, ~hele i~ i~ (le~;ire(l to accul;l~ly mea~ure heartl~eat an(l lo ~710~ e a teCIllliqUe ~'hiCIl elilllill.l~; m;~ r lhc Cll(ll!; foun(l in tl~eu~e of r~rc.scn~ly availal-lc ~'it'clc~i~i hcaltl-~a~ monitols, r)ar~icularly those ~Jf the r~or~ablc lyl-c aelar)le(l ~o bc use(l I-y r)eol le un(l~lgoill~ excrci~e, hiofce(lback etc. Such rn0blem~ ~enerally r elate to intel felence effects that !~il)B~TlTl TF SHEET (RULE 26~

wo 94/21171 21 PCT/USg4/02770 can occur if two wirclc~ h~rll~Qat monilor~ ~rc t l-cratin~ in clocc ~rox-imity to one anothcr, noisc aL~ributal~lc ~o courccs other ~han another heart monitor, confusion l~e~wQcll rcccivc(l ~ignal~ wllerein tlle heartbQat being displaycd may not h¢ tha~ Or thQ rercon bcing monitorc(l and si~uation~c where the uccr woukl hc una~are that lhe disrla~ed heartbeat is inaccû-ratc.

Fig. I schcmatically rcr~rcscnLc tlle llear~beat monilor lO, which is com-priscd Or a chcst unit 12 (tran~mi~ting uni~) and a complementary wri~t unit 14 (re~eiving or di~play unit) Wireles~ trall~mi~ion over a plurali~y of frequency ranges can occur from chesl uni~ 12 to wrist uni~ 14, as rc--re~en~ed by ~hc arrow~ l~ Wircle~ tran~mi~ion frorn the wris~ uni~ 14 ~o thc cllcst uni~ 12 jc~ u~c(l to correc~ tran~ ic~ion orrors but usually over only a single frcqucncy a~ represcntc~ y tllc ~inglc arrow 17. A~ will bc described latcr, ~ el~s tran~mi~si(In from the di~r~lay unit 14 to thc che~
uni~ 12 will occur when it i~ de~ire(l ~o chang~ the lransmis~inn fi.;qucl)cy from thc chest unit. This can be(ione ci~hcr autnmatically or on command by thc user. In practice, the transmit~er of the chest unit is frequency matchcd to thc rec~iver in thc wris~ unit so that an ~ncoded digital signal wirJ~ transmittcd from thc chect uni~ 12 will bc correc~ly rcccivcd by the wrist unit 14 Fig 2 illus~ra~ec a tyl-ical ECG cignal l~ rrom a rcrson bein~ moni~ored, and the digital pul~e tlain 20 cor,~l on(lin~ he ECG ~ignal. Each digital t ul~c CO~ )ondc to ~hc on~l Or a r~ocilive clorc r~or~ion 22 of thc analog r~ulccc rorming ~he ECG cig~ r:lin IX Ac an alleln7~ivc, cach digilal r~ulcc can CO~ ,on(l ro anollIer r rlio n o r ll)e analoF l-ulces, such as tlle reak Or cacll rul.ce. ~ hc rrc.ccnl invcllli~n, Lhc ECG ~igllal ic di~itizc(l I~I'iOI lo Wil'CIe.c.c lr;lll~ClllicCit~ll rl'OIll lhC CllC~t Ulli( 12 t0 ~he wricl uni~ 14 Thc r~lllrO.~C of ~llic arraratu~ ; I.o m~llilol hc.~ cal an(l tllcle-rorc il ic currlcjcllt lo ll~ r~-llll lllc ECG cigl)~ cc ~r~ill Thc rarticulll chal;lclcticlicc ICh.llillg 1-- .1 r~Cl.~OIl .'; ECG cigllal alc not Or im~ ortancc in ~l1C r)rcccn~ illVCll~iOIl.
.

Prior to thetrancmic~ioll Or a di~ilal ci~n,ll from clle~t ulIit 12 to wrict Ulli~
14, ~h~ digilal cign~l ic ~iven a cpecirlc hillarv i(lentirlca~ion c~quence SUBSnTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 .

Furlher, ~he individual (iigi~al r)ul~c~ in the r)ul~e ~rain 2n arc each enco(le(l in~o m bi~s A sequence Or di~i~al r)ulscs will thererore rcsul~ in a sequence of these m bi~ signal~ This sequence i~ r)re(3elermined and i~ known to the wrist unit 14 A ccrtain bit sequence can r rece(le thc idcnLifica~ion portion with the encoded digital signal to facili~te syncllronization of the trans-mitter and receivcr Fig. 3~ sho-~s 3 tyl-ical rormat Or the encoded digi~al signal transmitled from tll~ chest uni~ 12 ~o the ~vrist unit 14 where the signal is comprised Or a 3 bit synchroniza~ion r)ar~, 3n X bi~ idcn~irlcation part and a two bit da~a par~ Fig 3B showc a sequence Or four digital pulscs rer)resentecl l~y a code having ~vo bils r~er pulse, i c., m = 2. In ~hisscquence, the firs~ encode~l grour) 00 rernesenls ~he fils~ digi~al pulse, the seconcl encoded grour) ()I rer resenls tllc secol~ ligilal r)ulse, ~he third en-coded group 11 repr4sents ~he ~hir(l (ligi~al ~-ulse, and lhe nex~ encode(l group 10 r~l)resents lhe fourlh digi~al r)ulse This pa~ern, and its order, will b~ used each ~ime ~he ECG sign~l is saml-le(l and encnded. The pa~-~ern and its ordcr will be ch~ngecl ir m is changetl.

In operation, i~ is possible tha~ a ~ransmission error can occur. Som~imcs these crrors are only ~ransicn~, ;n which case Ihe last display reading will bc maintained. It can also be ~he situ~ion ~hat ~he errors continue to oc-cur due to interference from some outsi(le source (such as an ad3acen~
heartbea~ moni~or) where ~hc errors are ror examltle, missing bits during repealed transmissions. Since ~he wrisl uni~ 14 knows ~he r)redetermine(l code ror ~he data r)or~ion Or lllc si~nal, ~hc IlliSSitlg of ul- lo 2m _ I con~in-uous signals will be imme(lia~cly no~ice(l an(l ~lle missillg signals can be accountcd ror. lr too many signals (:~2~--1) are nlissing and thererole lhc inlerrerence is nol ;l ~l allsielll one, ~he rre(~ llcv Or ~he ~rallsmi~er an(l r&CeiVCI will h~ Cll;ln~e(l alltOm.l~iCally. Tlli~; C.~ll al~;0 be (1~ ne On (leman(l by llle uscr Thus, enco(lin~ Or tlle (li~ilal r-uls~ lrain 2() to inclu(le an i~lelllirlc.llion r)art an(l a ~ a l~al ~ en:ll-les thc receivillL~ Ulli~ to accel-l only ~hose signals sell~ rrom ~l1Q- as.~oci;l~c~l che.~l ~nlil all(l lo (lelec~ all(l correcl elrols in ~lle (la~a l-ar~ corlcsr~on(lillg t~ the rlerson s hQ:lr~beal. Det.li OrhowlhisOCCIllswillhe-cxrlaine~ illlr~ ec(tn111~a~ ara~usOrl~ig 4 (chest unit) an(l Fig S (~ris~ unil).

SUB~TITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 21S~5~2 ~?a~ cat l~q~7nir~7r Tcc~niqrl~

This scction will <iescril~c in gclleraI term~Li Lhe technique uf the rncscnt in-vcntion in which heartbeal monitoring is achicvc~i in an advanlagcous manncr In a fir~t ste~t, a iner~on'~ ECG signal jL; deLccte<l and then sum-cicntly am~7lified This amr~lirle(l L;i~,nal jL; Lran~.rolmed inLo a digital pulce signal which can bc used to iniLiate the wir~leL;s transmission of an cncodcd digital signal from thc chest uni~ 12 lo ~llc wris~ unit 14. Thc ciigital signalbeing Iransmittcd includcs an identification l-ar~ an(l a da~a r~art as illus-trated in Fig. 3A Thc transmillc(l cnco(Ic(I ~Iata signal jL; rcccivcd by a complcmcntary rEceiver in ~risL unia 14 all(l ~ransrorm~I lllerein back inlo thc cncodcd digital signaI Thc resul~ing di~i~al sign.ll is sel-araLQ(I into itsidentification parl and ils dala parl ~,Vrisl UIlil I4 vcrifics tllc idcnlifica-tion s~quence to determine thal thc rcceivc(I sigllaI i~ from lllc inropcr chcstuniL If not, tho signal is nol acceptcd Ir Ihe kIentifica~ion step is satis-ficd, ~he data Itorlion Or thc receivc(I siF,nal is lhen chcckcd lo scc whelher it has ~he çxrect~(l value. If Ille expec~e~I value is r~re~e1ll in th~ re ~iv~lsignal, ~hcn thc display l-orlion of ~he wrisl unit jL; updalcd Some or all of thc dala can also bc s~orcd in a memory containcd in Ihc wrist unil.
As an option, thc dala can bc fir~l ~enl to th6 n.c",ory prior to bcing dis-playcd.

Thc data porlion of lhe lransmiLtc(I enco(Icd sigIlal can rcr~rescn~ a full hcartbcat rate, or ;USL a in(tllion Of il For c~amr~le, the numbcr Or ECG
pulL;c~ in a 3-~ccond intervai can he ~fn~seIl~tl If this numher is mlllli-plicd by 20, thc a~ roximal~ healllte~ ralc in l-ea~ rer minlI~e will be knn~ n Tl1 jL; calcula~iOl1 can l-e done hl ~h~ r eceiYeI uIlil OI hl LIle ~ranL;-miltel uni~ ir ~he ruII llear~heal rnle jL; 1~ e1laIlL;milte(I ~O lhc receivcr If tIle fuII h~nIll~ea~ L; tranL;Illille~I 1I1~1 Ie~!i traIlL;llliL;L;ioll~ will he nCC(IC(I. 1ll tUI Il, lI1 jL; mcan.L; lhal there ~ l he I~L; IikcIilloo(i Or hlt~rrelellce rlO,n o~ller L;o.llceL; ~ l leLiL; IlO~c~ c C(~ llCtl. or(Olll.L;C.
bcr or~anL~ i(tn~ iIl a Ei-~Il lillle r,.".. 1l.~ IllL;lllittel ~-can be (le~ermine(l as a de~ign inar~ ter in accol(lance wi~h consi(ler-ations such a~ vcr, likeIiIloo(I Or hltel rereIl(:e~ clocking requirernenls, c~cVariouLi co(Iing Licheme~ are well kno~vIl ror LieIeclhl~ Lhc nuIlll-er of ECG

SUBSTITUrE SHEET (RULE 26) 21S8~S2 r)ulccs t(l ~amT-lc an(3 ~hc canlr)ljng rcr~ctilion ralc In thc r)rac~icc of thi~
invcntion. any of thccc kno-vn co~ling cchcmcc, or a dirrcrcnt onc, can bc choscn.

If the sequence of bi~s forming thc daLa l-ortion of tl1C rcccivcd signal is not maintaincd in ~hc cxr)cc~cd ~cequ6nce7 an crror ha~c occurrcd and ~hc numbcr of mi~sin~ digi~al pulse~ i~c dctcrminc(l Thcsc mi~sing digital pulscs arc assume(l ~0 bc cvcnly ~lic~ril~utc(l in a cGr,cs~,0ndin~ ~;111C rangcand ~hc display will bc up(latc(l an(i/or thc da~a u~ill hc s~orcd in mcmory togcthcr ~vitll somc annotation about IhC crror In this emhodimcn~, ~he occurrence Or a cer~ain numl~cr Of crrors ( > 2 m--I) within a given Lim~ frame mean~ tllal tllc indicatc(l hcar~ bca~ ratc will bc unrcliablc This ~uill rcsul~ in an au~omatically generated requcsl for a frcqucncy ~ ch ~lla~ is ini~iatcd in thc ~vri~ unit 14 Thi~ requcs~
for a changc in transmi~sion frcqucncy can l~c blockcd by thc uscr or can bc initiatcd on dcmand by ~hc u~cr. For cxamr~lc, ~hc uscr may sce thal he or sllc will bc in thc prcscncc Or othcr~ usin& hcartbcat monitor dcviccs or maybc near ~ isc or other typ~ of cquir~mcnt which would intcrÇcrc with the signals heing tran~mi~tcd rrom the che~t unit. Knowing that sucll an interrerenc~may occur and may ex~en(l ror a period Or ~ime, the uscr may wi~h to chanE,e~ tran~cmis~ion ficqucncy in order tn a~okl r~roblem~
Al~crna~i~cly ~hc u~er may rcco~nize lh;lt ally inl~rferencc will b~ only tran~ient. and ~hsrerore may ~tjch ~o block a freqllency chan~c. In actual u.C~, mo~ e~oll~ woukl allow th~ moni~or ~o aulomatically adju~ Thc amoun~ of crrol~ lhat will lli~cr a rre(lllcncy ch~n~c i~ a r~alamet~r thal can hc ~aric(l, accorllin~ ~o ~llc lo~eic inc ll or.l~c(l in Ihc monilor If a chan~c in trancmi~cilnl rrc(lucllcy i~; ncc(lc(l. a di~ilal ~i~nal (rrcqllcncy Cl1al1~C C;~n1aI) ~V;II h¢ cent vi a ~vilclcc~ ~allclllic~;ion rronl l11C ~ni~l unil t0 ~hc chc~t ullil Thi~ digit;ll ~i~ n:il can inclll~le an idclltirlc;ltioll r~ilrt an(l a data r~art ~vllicll ~r)ccific.~ IhC 11CW (ral1~111;~C~;OI1 rrC(IIICnCY. 1-11C ;(ICnl;rlCa-~;011 rart of tl1;~ (Ijg;lLII C.;~I1;11 allOW~; t11C CI1C~Cl Ul1jl ~O know that ~he fle-qucncv chan~c cj~llal haC I~CCn ~CIlt rrom thc ;nccoci;ltc(l Wli~t unit an~i ic tllclcfolc a corrccl commall(l lo change frcqucllcy /~l tllc ~amc timc, the wri~l uni~ chan~c~ lhc frcgllcllcv or Ille rcccivcr in tlli~ ullil ~o m~ch llle ~IIB~TITlJTE SHEET ~RULE 26~

2158S~2 nc-~ ~ran~mi~tcr flcq-lcllcy ~ r ~lle che.~.a utlil I Tllc ~ran~mi~ion ralh frc~m tllc vris~ unit 14 ~o ~hc chc~ unit 12 commanding a ncw trans-mission rrcquency is nol orlen used Hn~vcvcl onc¢ it is used the l~roba-bili~y of a corrcct trallsmission must hc higll For thcsc rcasons it i~
prefcrablc that tllere be c)nly one r)o~ihle ~ran~mi~sion frcqucncy for this ~?ath and that thi~ trallsn1is~i~?1l freqllency he (li~feren~ from the frequencies used on thc main tlansmi~ n pa~h i c. the lransmission frequencie~
normally uscd ~o ~ran~smit tllc encode(l digital ~i~n~ls from tllc chcst unit to thc wrist uni~ 14. ~s a fur~llcr mcasulc ~o incrcasc tllc rcliabili~y of thc second transmissioll path from thc ~vrist unil 14 to ~hc chc~ unit 12 thc powcr Or thc frcqucncy cllatl~e sign.?l rrom ~hc ~ ri~l uni~ lo ll1c chcst uniL
is highcr tllan thc powcr normally u~ed for ~llc ~ransmi.~sion of cncodcd digital signaL~ from ~heclle~l uni~ 12 lO ~hc ~ri;l uni~ 14~ Thi~ cn~urcs tha~
thc ncccssary fiequency change in lhe main lrall~missi~ll path will l~c madc.

The following dEscriptioll will detail thc coml-onents comprising thc cbe~t unit 12 and thc wrist unil l4 which ln~eLher comprisc tllc heartbeat monitor 10.
cl,c.~, u"it ~ri~. 4) Fig~ 4 shows tl e various comrlonent~ of che~l ullil 12 ~ hich are used to dctec~ an ECG signal amr~lify lllnt ~igllal an(l (ligitizc i~, encode it into ankienlification rorli(?n ancl a cl:1ta ~?or~ion an<l tllcn l~ wir~;lc~:~ly ~ransmil il to ~vri~l ullil 14. Thc chc.ct ullil al~ inclll(le.c me.~ for rccei~illg a fre-4UCllC~' ch tnge si~nal fiom ~l~c ~-~ri.~l lnlit Ih:lL ~ ri~gcl a challgc h ran~mi.~.~ioll rreqllellcy of lllc oul~itlg .ci~ll;ll.c.

In more (lelail chc~l ullil 12 ic Iyric~ c;1llic(1 I)n tllc l-rca~l Of thc targcL
l cr~ ucll tllal Llli~ l-ercoll ~ ECC ci~n;ll IX can I-c rccci~!c~ y lhc in eleclrode ~crmillal~ 24 Tlle~e Iclmillalc 2~1 ca~ r arl ~-f tllc chQ.~l Ulli~or lhe chesL unil can l~c ~Ic.cignc(l .co tllal ally .~ell~ol r(lr (lelecling a I iome(lical rc~l c)nsc can l~c r)lug~c(l inl~ . lhc eCG ~i~nal 1~ hen am~lificcl in a (lifrcrcntial amr)liricl 2(, I rodllcin~ lhe amr~lirie<l si~nal re-~re~cnlQ(I hy arr~-w 2~ ~mrlir~Q<I .~i~n;ll 2~ rall~crolmed inlO a di~ilal ~llB~TlTlllF SHEET (RULE 26~

~1585~2 pulsc tr<tin 2() (Fi~ 2) in thc c~mr~ara~ol 30, ~vhicl1 has hy~ercsi~ Thi~
hysterc~cis fcaturc ~rcvcnLs thc gcncratil7n Or mnrc ~hal1 onc digital pulsc from onc hcartbcaL, duc ~o outsi~lc di~lurbancc~ Or any tyl-c Thc corrc-la~ion bctwccn thc ECG signa! 18 and ~l1c digital pulcc signal 20 was dc-scribed with rcspcct to Fig. 2 Thc digital pulsc signal 20 ic ~en~ dircctly to ~h~ transmi~cr 37 via linc 32, and is also scnt ~o an encc7(1er mcans 34 via in~erconncc~ion linc 3fi Thc rising rlank of a digital ~7ul~c will trigger ~ran~mitling means 37 to wi~ .ly ~ransmit an Gnc~-(le(l clectr(1magl1elic signal 1(~ to a rccciving mcans in thc wrist unit 14 Thc ricing flank or a digilal pulse also triggcrs encoder 34 to provkle the ~ynchrnniz.l~iol1 r~arl, lhe i(len~irlcalion part an(lthe (lala ~7ar~ of ~he ~nco(le~l ~ligital ~ignal rerle~en~e~l by arrow 38 ~vhicl1 is transmittc(l by thc transmitting mean~ 37 l-hc digiLal r7ul~0n iinc 32 is use~l only as a clock or ~iming r~ul~e Linc 32 can l7c climina~cd in an al~crnativc dcsign whersin clocking i~ internal in transmi~ter 37 or is pro-vidcd by a portion Or ~h~ encode(l signal from encodcr 34.

Fncot~cd digilal signal 3~ is shown in Fig 3A, while a sequencc of signals c~,.cs~)onding to ~hc cl~codcd data r nrtion i~ shown in Fig. 3B. Evcry digilal pulsc in pulsc ~rain 20 (Fig 2) rc~ulL~ in advancing onc stci7 in thc cyclc Or ~hc ~ncoded da~a signals Thcrcfolc, Fig. 3B illus~ratcs a pul~c scqucncc co"~ 0l1din~ ~o rOur digital rul~e~c in the r7ul~e ~rain 20 Only a small and pred~terminc(l nunlt7cr t)f el1cl-(le(1 ciE,nal~ muct bc transmittcdhy transmitting mean~ 37 Chest unil 12 alco contail1c a rccci~cl ~1() al1(1 a c~ aratol 42, tcrmc~ a ~ignal evaluatol Unil~ 4() al1(1 42 alc u<;c~l l ) rcccivc a frcqllcncy change ~i~nal froll1 wri~l Ullil 14 in(liCa~ lh.ll :1 ll-:lll';llli~!;iOIl frC~IIlCIlCy Cllange i.~ rC4UilC<I, an(l l0 tllClCIty rlOVi(lC a !iign~ he Ll.ln~miLlcl 37 ~o achievethi~c In more (Iclail, ir cl-rOr~ hcyO,l(l ;, ~ivell h~.-lll(l arc n~lc(l in tlle daLa i~or~ion Or ~he h1cnmil1g (ligi~al cign;ll~ hl ~he Wlici u~ 14~ a ~a frcqucncy change ~igl1al 17 will h~ ~vilel~i~ly ~enl ~o ch~cl uni~ 12 and i~
rcccivc(l hy Ll1e rcccivcr 4() Tl~i~ rQceive~l ~igl1;l1 containc tl1~ hinary iden-tirlcalion raL~erl1 uniquc ~o tlli~ hear~ IllOllitOI an(l a data r~or~ion wl1icll will tligger a chal1ge in fl~~ 1cy In lllic cmho(limcn~, chc~c~ Illlit.

~IJ8~TlTlJTE SHEET (RULE 26~

21585~2 12 necd not be equipped with crror dctection and corrcction mcans. It is only ncccssary that thc data por~ion of thc frequcncy changc signal indi-cate that a new tr~n~mi~sion frequency is dcsired. The data portion can also specify this new frequency, or logic in signal evaluator 42 can specify the new frequency range over which the encodcd digital signals will be sent.

The frequency change signal is scnt to the compara~or 42 (signal evaluator) which compares the coded idcntification pattcrn in the received digital signal with the codcd idcntification pattern for this heartbeat monitor 10.
As noted, this identifica~ion pattern is unique to this heartbeat monitor.
If the comparison shows that the identification portion of the incoming signal matches that for this heartbeat monitor, comparator 42 will deter-mine the new tr~n~micsion frcquency froM the data portion of the received signal and will gencrate a digital frequcncy selcct signal 44 that is sent to the tr~n~mitt~r 37. As will bc e~plaincd latcr, a signal evaluator in the wrist unit will provide a col.esl)onding signal to the receiver therein in or-der that the rer,rptioll snd tr~n~mi~cion frcquencies will bc m~tched.

Wrist Unit 14 (Fig. S) Fig. 5 illustrates the components which make up the wrist unit 14 (dis-play). This unit provides the general functions of receiving the encoded digital signal rcprcscnting a pcrson's hcartbeat, comp~ring the idcntifica-tion portion of the encoded signal ~o the appropriate reference identifica-tion pattern, and displaying and/or storing the data l~ s.,llting this heartbcat. Anothcr function that is accomplishcd is a chcck of the data portion of the encoded signal to dctcrminc if any errors therein are within an acceptable bound or, if thcy arc not, generating a signal to change thc transmittcr frcqucncy as wcll as thc frcqucncy of thc rccciver in the wrist unit. As notcd, this error detcction and corrcction rneans takes into ac-count transient errors which do not repeat and for which a frequency change is not required, as well as persistent ~rrors which necessitate a change in transmission frc~uency in order to provide accurate data trans-mission. In one embodiment, the 'wrir.t" unit is located _19_ SUBSiITUTE SHEET ~RULE 26~

in thc exercisc cquil~mcnL and i~ used to control thc rarl ~r tlle equipmenL
which rcgulates the rcsi~talIce offere(l lothe u.scr.

In more detail, wris~ UlIit 14 con~ains a rccei~er 46 ror receiving the cn-coded digital signal~ 16 rrom clIest unia 12, a compara~or or signal cvalu-ator 48 for analyzing thc received cncodcd signals, a m~mory unit 50 in which data rcprcscnting heartbeat can t~c s~orcd, a di~play unit 52 for disl~laying to the uscr his or l~er heartbeat, and a transmit~er 54 for thc ~Yil~ transmission of frequ~Icy chan~e signals to the chest unit in ordcr to change the frequency of transmissiolI.

Thc clcctromagnctic ~ignal 1() is rcccivc(~ by rccci~cl 46 and transrormcd into a digital signal tl)at is scnt to lhc comparalor 4~. This digital signal is idcntical to th~ outgoing ci,igital si~nal lran~mi~Lccl from chcst unil 12 towrist unit 14. In the comparator 4~, thc rcccivc(l digital signal is scparatcd into its idcntification part and its data parl. Thc klentirlcation part of thc signal is comparcd to thc prcsct and unit-~pccirlc idcntification uniquc to this hcartbcat monitor. Ir thc idcntification part of thc incoming signal docs not match thc rcfcrcncc idcntification part, thc incoming signal is ig-norcd. If therc is a match, comparator 42 thcn chccks whcthcr the data portion of the incoming ~ignal is in the propcr r1attern order shown for c~amplc, in Fig. 3i3 for a situation in whiclI m=2. If thc data bit sc-qucncc matchcs the rcrerence scqu~nce, then tlle lransmi~ion frnm the ch~st unit 12 to the wrist ulIil 14 was err--r flee an(l thc necessary signal evalualinn can be dnne. Tlli~ rn~an~ th.)t the inrnrmation can be ~ent cii-rectly lo cii~i~lay 52 and/or sl(lre~i in mc-m~-ry ~().

If llle data r~orlion i.~ nol llIe ~pecle~l pal~ellI, tlle numbcr l-f mi~in~
r~altems i~ delelmine(l. This n1lllIl-el al.~;o L~i~*c inr(Irmalioll al-oul tll6 se-vcri~y of Lhe~rall~mi~ )n err(~ he nece~ ly arproximalion~ lo com-pcnsale ror lhis ~rror are IlIen dolIc in lhe si~lIal evalllatioll unit 4~ in order lO c~lml-ell.~al~ ror ~ ell~ ", e~ lc~ ir ~ y l~lIe l~ mi~illg from the Gx~ected p3ltern, IlIe si~nal e~ hlalol wo1l1(1 ha~e buill-in logic tha~ ~oukl r~ro~i(le tlIe bil so thal lh~ h~:lrll-e:ll r3~e corre~l~olI(lillg to that data patL~rn would he di~played. Ir thc ~rro~ a major one but doe~ not SUBSTlTl)TE SHEET ~RULE 26 Wo 94/21171 PCTJUS94tO2770 215~2 re~Qat ;t~OEIr1 1l1C si~nal evalIIator tvill call~e IlIe la.~t (li~rllayccl heartb~at rate ~o rcmain dis~layed.

If thc occurrcnce or ~ransmi~sion arrorx i.c hes~on(l a given bound ~hen the signal evaluator unit will au~oma~ically gcncla~c a frcqucncy changc signal 56. This signal will l~c sen~ to Ihe tran.~mi~tet 54 for wirelcss transmission (rcpresen~ed by arrow 17) to ~hc receivin~ mcan~ 40 in chcst ullil 12 (Fig.
4). Thc selection of thc ncwtransmis.~iolI frc(lucncy lakcs inlo account thc recent history of transmission railurQ~ ror lhc val ious frcqucncic.~. This can be done by a ~able look-ui r¢ature in signal cvaluator 4~ whcrc thc num-ber of ~ransmission errors is s~orecl ror caclI ortlle transmissiolI frcqucn-CiQ~. Signal evaluator 48 also inr(lvi(le~ a frequelIcy cllangc signal 58 to thcrcccivcr 46. Tl~is cnablc~ r~ceiver 4~ lo have a receivin~ frequcltcy matching that of the new frequency usc~l in tlle transmitter 37 (Fig. 4).

As an altcrnative, the user can use ininul lcrminal fiO, which is connceted to the signal cvaluator 48, in order lo ei~hQr l~lnck ~he changc Or frequency or ~o initiatc a changc in frcqucncy.

Normally a change(s) in transmission frcqucncy will providc accuratc data to the r~ceivin~ unit. However, if lhc mnnitor de~ec~s errors ~hat continuc to occur arlcr sc~cral frcqucncy chan~e.s, tilC in~ernal l~lgic in thc moni~or will prcvcnt thc furthcr disrlay of hearlhe;lt ratc (l~lank scrccn), and/or will l?rovidc an alarm signal. In thic ~ay, Ihc u~cr is nol foolcd by thc dislnlay oi an in3ccuralc heallbeat a~ OCCIIIC willI r)rcscntly availablc monitors.

T~le (la-a ev~ on ~ea~ lo i,lr-,n,;,~ r~ a~ e (li~lay call 17c ~enl lo thc mcmory 5() l~e~idc.c l~ein~ ent~le(l in~ hc dicinlay 52. Laler lore(l clala can bc di~l-layc(l in llle (li~rlay ~2. Microl-rocec~ol ~2 woulcl control lllc now Or l~calll~c;l~ a rr~-rll mellloly 50 lo <licrlay 52.
Di.~r)lay 52 can ite Or ~he vi.cu.ll tyl-e .cllcll a.~; .111 LCD di~J~l.ly and/or can l~c audil-le, a.~ ror e.Yami le alI alarlll or oll~er collncl rel-reccnling ~
hearlbeat counl.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) .
~s~ssz The ~ranLimittcr recei~er r ~ir ~7-4fi can c(lmmullicalc (ln L;;~veral fre4u~
cies and uses a rela~ively lo-~ r)owcr~L;i~llal in or~ler ~o pr~serve ba~Lery life Thc ~ransmitter receiver l-~ir ~4-4() commullicates on nnly onc fre~uency and uses a relatively high r~ower signal, in a rrererrsd embodimen~ This takcs into account that thc Iransmi~tcr-rccci~ct r)air 37-46 is in constant use and that hardware is r~rovide<i ror erlclr d~tection and co".;~lion In contrast, thc transmittcr-rcccivcr pair 54-40 is only rarcly uscd and thc monitor 10 has no error dc~cc~ion/corlec~ion facili~y wi~h rcspcc~ to thc encodcd signal r~prescnting a rrequency change sclcction.

Thc transmitter 54 will con~inuc ~rallsmi~ting an clcc~romagnctic signal 17 until a correct clcc~romagnetic siL~nL~ is dclivcrc(l by lransmit~cr 37 ~o receiver 46 in lhc wrist uni~ If for ~omc rcason ~his synchronization fails, the user can syncllronize the chest and wrist units hy ~xtcrnal mcans Fig 6 illustratc~ a modinca~inn Or ~l~c tran~mi~tcr unit which is partic-ularly a~Japtcd for .vi,~l~;.. tran~mi~ion Of the full hcartbcat ra~c. The samc rercrcncc numcrals will bc uscd in lhis figulc as wcrc uscd in Fig. 4, for components having the ~.ame or ~imilar functions. or cou~c, the unit of Fig 4 can also be usecl to ~ncode an<ltransmit the full heartbeat rate.

In morc detail, thc transmi~cr Of l~i~ ( includcs thc amplirlcr 26, comr~aratnr 30, cncodcr 34, Ir~ln~mi~cr 37, rccci~cr 40 and signal cvalu-ator 42 shown also in Fig 4. H(l~vcvcl~ a Limcr fi4 is now usccl ~o triggcr ~he transmit~cl 37 for ~ ilcl;~ translllission Or ~hc cncodcd digital ~ignal from cncndcr 34 In this cml-o(limcn~. a (1~1 1 chcck circui~ uscd to cnablc crror dclcc~ion and c(lrlccli(lll -r Ihc CIlCO~lC(l di~ nal r~rior ~o ils bcing tran~lllittc(l lo Illc rcccivcr ullil ~or c!~amr~lc, lhi~ can hc donc hy usc of a r ari~y hil 1 hic hcll-s ~o cn~lllc accut acy ir Ihc Cl..i~-C hcal (bca~
ratc is to bc ~ransllliLtcd. rar~ lllllly irll~c llcarll-cl~ ra~c is no~ transmi~-~c(l a~ a higll Icr~c~iLioll r~c~lllcllc~, i c . ir ~I-clc i~ (, lo~ mc <Illla~i(in l-c-cacll wirclcss ~rallsllli~sioll ~ r hc.ll ll-cat r llc l hc rcccivcl uni~ of Fig S can hc usc(l lo rcccivc all(l cv.llllalc Illc full llcal~hca~ ratc scnt hy lllc' ~ransmit~illg Ulli~.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 94/21171 2 I 5 ~ 5 5 2 PCT/USg4/02770 Many ~iiff~renl tyr-es Or eneo(iin~ ean l-e u.cE(I ~o rer-lQSent tlle identirlea-tion and da~a r~orticll.c oftlle lransll~ e(l sigllalc. Ako, the rate of sam-- i~ling of tlle ECG r)ulses ean be varied, ac ean the rer-etition rate at whieh wilel~s transmissions of the eneo(le(l ~ al signal are made. The fre-queney ehange signal use(l to trigger a ne~ transmission frequeney ean be transmitted over a multil-le frQqueney range rather than over a single se-leetecl frequeney. The frequelley rangec use(l in lhe main transmission path ean be ehosen by tlle ~ie.signer in aeeor(lanee willl kno~n ~rineiples of ~irelesc transmission, ~hiell in inersonal uce monitors is of ~ short range.

As noted. the l-rillei~les or(ligitization f the tlallcmiLted h~altbeatsignal, transmiscion frequeney ellan$e.s, all(l ,cignal eneo(lillg ~o en.cure ~he aeeu-raey of the et~mmunieated resulLs are ~IcC(~ to i-no~i(le r~ersonal use moni-tors f~r ~uperior to Ihose presently l~eing marketed. Ho~ever, sueh prinei~le~c may be a~pli¢d lo olher lhan iner.collal u.ce monitorc. It is re-cogni7~d, thougll, that thc provision of such rcaturcs is uniquc in a wcarablc hcartbca~ monitor whcrc ~he monilor inclucics a wcarablc ~rans-mitting unit and an associatcd ,display unil. Thc.cc fcaturcs arc also uniquc to monitors whcrc the display (rcccivcr) unh is locatcd on C~CI`~.;5~: cquip-ment or ic a small unit that can be placeci in a suitablc location for vicwing by thc user. Such units arc distinguishablc from largc hospital units wherein a een~ral eompu~er is uc,~i to eoor(iilla~ a multii~lieity of trans-mitting and/or di.sr)lay unitc.

While the monitor has been illus~la~e(l in an embodiment thereof for moni~orin~ hsarlbeat rate, it will be un(lenc~oo(l hy ~hose of ckjll in the art ~hat a si~nal intlie3~ive of allo~llel i- ily.cieal col)(li~ion ean l-e mnni~nre(~.
I~or ~xamr)le, an aeou.clie.ll ,ce~lcm ean (leteet a i- ulce or a thermome~er sencor can ~Ieteet a ~emi eralure. l hi.c t~ lte of nlollilor ean he ai r lie(l to m~a.cl~e ~n(l ~li.sr~la)~ ~tll)~ l)rl')C ,-r lirQ~LI~lcliO~l. i" l~cl.sonC ,-,- tnimal.s. A(l-n~ vi~ QIe~s.s nl,-,l i~ r -"lle t.~ cic:l l c,~ n~ o~cr ~
lifQ fulle~inn,s earl utili7,e ll~e r)rincir~lQc of erlol- delee~ ll all(i eorree~ion ~ie.seril e~l' herehl.

While it has been mentione(l ~lla~ ~he di.sr lay (rQceiver) unit ean be loeated on ~ereise equir)me~nt, tlle monitor ean l-e used ror eontlollin~ intensity SUBSTITLITE SHEET (RULE 26~

2ts~55~

and typc Or workout on e~rci~e cquir-men~ ha~e(l Otl continuouslv moni-~oring a bo(iy rcspon~e ol` lhe targe~ r)er~oll For examr)le, thc excrcisc cquipment can ~e l~rogramllled to receive a continuous hcart ratc rcsponse of the ~arget person an(l then a<ljust tlle intensity (such as resistance) of the exereise lo maintain the person's hear~ rate wi~hin a r~reseleetGd range The monitor Or this inven~ion i~ l-arliculal ly suilable for use wilh exereis~
equipment sinee it is in~ensilive lo the eloseness Or olher exercise equip-men~, motors within the equir)ment being used by 111C person, and other elosely loeated monitors operalh~g 011 the same nr elose fiequeney ranges This allows the receiver-~ lay unil lo he locate~l anywhere on lhe ~xereise equir~ment without eoneerll rOr inl~rr~rence errects wllicll ~vould yi~ld the wrong hearl rale and e~rrespolldingly rrovi(l~an incorreel workoul It is well knnwn that exereising in a eorlect am~lunt plays an essential role in any errort to fight eardiovaseular (lisease an(~ eertain rorms Or eaneer.
However, the best result ean only tte aellieve(l when the eorreet way of CA~ Ing jS 5~ 'd. In tltc past, this has Ied to ccrtain rulcs Or thumb such as eA .e;si"g at 70% of lhc maximum heart ratc, wh~re the ma~ci~
hcart rate is given by thc c~l,r.;~sion (220 minus age). In ordcr to obtain this, a constant monitoring of thc hcart rate during CA.,I't.;:C ;S rcquircd sndthere must be an adaptation of the intensi~y Ievel of the exereise ba~ed ur~on the hear~ rale As the hearl ra~e Or a r~ersoll (Jer~n(ls on a variely of daily fac~ors such as sleerl, ~lie~, heallll elc . il is not sllmcicn~ ~o deter-mine the bc~t type and inlensi~y of exercise for a r~erson only one time, e.g., in a doetor's Omee, an(l lhen slay wilh thic Ie~el over a long l eriod of time.
Additi(lnally, tlle tr~initlg errecl ,r e~;elcice il.~elr lea(l~ lO ., gra~ I.ir~ in the ~A~ Ic~cl ~'lliCI~ e~ e~l r,-, ~lle i,l(li~i-l-,~l.

Un~il only rcccnlly, lhc colltl(ll Or lhc inlell~ily Icvcl ~,r lhc C~CICiSC cqllir-menl was Ierl colll~lletely t~t lhe e:~erci~itl~ l~elSOI1 E~en whcn Ll1C r~CISOIl ha(l an accurate heal l monitor I1CI.~I1C s~ill h~I~I tO a(lJusl lI1C inlcllsity Of lllc cxcrcisc accol~lillg lo Lhc rea~lillg on ~he monitor. Only in closely ~ur~er-vi~e<l l-rogram~ ~uch a~ ~ho~ie ullcler~aken l-y rnore~ional a~hleles or r)er-sons in a car<~i;lc rehal~ ;ltioll l~ro~lalll wa~i lhi~ lask taken over by a ~rainer or a (loc~ol -2~-SU8SrlTUTE SHEET ~RULE 26) Wo 94/21171 PCTIUS94102770 ~1~85~2 Sincc cxercisc cquipmcnt is now usc(~ in man~ rormS of exercisc activitiec, it is appr~r)riate to incorr)orale com¢ meanc Or excrcise Icvcl control inlo the equipment. A first stcp lla.c becn (ionc by come companics which orrcr exercise bikcs allowing thc constant meacllrem~nt or hcart rate as long as the excrcising pcrson touches two electrode.s ~vith lli.c/hcr hands. Thc mcasured heart rate is thcn used l~y tlle l-ik~ contlol circui~ to increasc or reduce the rcsistance of thc bikc in orcler to kccr~ thc hcart ratc of the tar-gct person within a ~QIcete(i ranL~e.

Although this ty~c Or excrci.ce l~ike is cerlainly a s~cp in the correct direc-tion, this aquipment has ceveral signirlcall1 (lisa(l~alltagcs. Whilc it may bc somcwhat inconv¢nien~, a Large~ rersoll can i robal?ly bc convinccd ~o kccp a firm grip on Ille halldles ~r tlle exercice bike. H~ cvcr, tllis tcch-nique cannot be uscd for olller kin~ls of cxcrcisc cquipmcnt such as treadmills or stairc1imbcrs, whcrc a cons~ant c(ln~act Or thc skin with el6clrodcs on thc cquipment cannol bc guaranleed. It is also doublful that this ~ecllnique can bc gcncralizcd to bc usc~l ror "Icss~r;ng o~hcr body re-s~,onses, such as blood prcssurc. Furtllcr, this typc Or hcart monitoring docs not allow for warm-up and cool-(ln-~-n i7hascs ~vhich arc csscntial in thc dcsign of propcr cxcrcisc. In snme ca.ces, doclors will even suggcst ~hat ror pc,s.,ns wi~h limitcd availal~le tim~ Iha~ the excrcise ~hould consist only of a warm-up an(l cool-(lo~ n r ha.ce. In cucll an event, thc af~remcntionQd cxcrcise bike will no~ provi(le tlle inroi~er ~orkollL
As lhe h¢arl rale ic cupr~n.ced ~ change ~lmi~ lle rhases ~f warm-un, acr~bic ~vorkou~, an(l COOI~ 'll, a more c~lnlille.~t COIl~l-OI meCIl;llliSm iS
nccc.c.cary thall ror a i ll.lse in u~llicll a con.c~;lnl ~arg¢l heart r.lle i.c cough~.
Fullllel, in an c~crcicc bikc. like ill 111~ ' O~ CICice e~ lllell~c, tllele arc of ~en mllltiinlc in;1l amelerc \- hicll (lelel nlille tll~ illlCll~iit~ r thc exercise.
For lllc cxcrcisc bike, tllese i~al.lme~el.c are Ille r~e(lal .Cl7ee(l an(l lhe resisl-ancc. In rlre~en~ly availal-lQ e~ercice l-ikec. onl~ ~lle ~r.cictancc i~ controlle(l l~y Ll1Q hearl rate. Slill rurlllcr, ~hese exelcicc l~ikes canll0~ kcei track ofthe cxcrci.sc hi.clory Of thetalge~ rlcr.coll a~ ake thic inlo accolln~ in (ie-riving ~hC besL exerci.ce ~yl-e an(i IQVeh Al1l1Ollgl1 ~l1C healt ratc has a very chort recl-on.ce timc lo a cllan~c ill e,YelCiCe illlQ31CilV, thi~C. may not be the SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26~

~8~s2 casc for o~ller l~od)~ rc~r)on~c~ If thel-e i~ nirlcanl (Iclay l~ctwccn ~
changc in ~lle exercise inlensi~y and a corlcsron~ cllangc Or tlle body rcsponsc, ~his must bc anticii-a~c(l l~y a morc comi-lc:~ control algorithm;
tha~ is, thc cxcrcisc cquipmcn~ con~rol sh-)ul(l nol l c rcs~rictcd ~o a fccd-back typc rcgulation but shoukl also incorr~or3~c a fccd-rorward control in which ~hc cquipmcnt paramctcrs arc adiustc(l allcali Or ~imc in ordcr to elimina~c c~ccss ovcrshoots and undcr~hoots of ~ mcasurcd body rc-sponsc Thcrc arc also somc c~crcisc bikcs bcing malkctc(l ~vhicll usc ~i~ ;ss monitors to me;asurc hcart ra~e or thc ~xercising rerson and to use thal hcart ra~c ~o adjus~ lllc c~ercise work loa(l. In some ins~anccs, diffcrcnt excrcisc programs can bc incor} ~rated in~o ~hc equir~ment, whcrc thcsc programs havc prcdctcrmincd rcsis~ancc Icvcls lo simulatc hills or llat tcr-rain.

Fig. 7 schematically illus~rates lhc usc or lhis monilor ~vilh exercisc cquip-ment, in this casc an ~ ct i:~c bikc. Thc transmittcr uni~ Or ~hc monitor is located on thc person whi3c lhe rcccivcr uni~ is locatcd on the t;A~
cquipment. Thc rcceiver includes a di~play wllich indica~cs thc biomcdical r~s~,onsc, such as heart ra~c, and also i~ro~ides an clccllical signal for controlling one or more exercise parallle~en~, sllcll as r)c(lal ra~c and rcsist-ancc In Fig 7, the ~ransmil~er unil 12 llro~i(les a cli~ilally cncocicd signal lfi in a wirclc~s manner ~o ~he receiver 14, ~-llicl~ is cou~ o the disi71ay and con~rollel in the exerci~e l?ike 70 Thc usc of a ~virclcs~ tran~;lni~ioll cn~llle~ th~ lhe usel ~ill not be c~n-slrained in llis flee(ionl Or l-ody mo~men~ re~l(ilecc Or lll~t)~i?c ore~cer-cisc equir~melll ~llal i~ cminloye(l l lle realure~ f crror ~ eclion an(i e~ rorcorrcc~ elll~r willl ~lle Illcall~ r-, cl~ "~ lc~ io~l rlc(ll~cnc~
allow accLir;llc heart ra~es lo 1-~ Ir:ln~nlli~C(~ CIl ill r00111~; WlliCIl arc cro~v(le~ ll exerci~c equii-menl ol ~ilh n Inllclo~ corlc ~vc:llin~ hca ralc monilor~

Il is dcsirablc tlla~ ~llc cxcrcisc rr r~lc Or ~llc rrcscll~ cxcrci~c bc cicri~/c(l rrom an ininlll frolll thc u5cr An alrca~ slolc(l hislnr~ Or ~llis si~ccific uscr -2( -SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) wo 94ell71 ~ 1 5 ~ 5 5 2 PCTIU594/02770 and tllc ba~elinc of thc u~ce~ ~ ho(ly r~ on~ ill rro~ e more ~ ro~riate exercise. Of course, ~hc u~cr c~n also O~Crl;~lC t11 j~ featurc and entcr his own prorllc. In ~his invcnlion, lhc wholc cxerci~c prorilc including thc warm-up an(l cool dowll an~i any other in~en~al portions are continuously adjusted depending upon ~he measuremell~ Or ~hc bndy rcsponse.

The receiver-controller unil on the exercise equipment is opera~ed in re-sponse to the measured biomcdical funclion, such as he~rt rate. As dif-ferent parameters of the exercise equipmellt may employ dirferent muscle groups, the composition of the parameter.selec(inn will depend on the ex-ercise history Or the target persoll. For exalllple, bolh arms and Ieg~s may be subjeet to dirrerent exercises, eacll or ~hic}l u~ill affecl heart rate.

For eaeh exereise run, key characlelislics of this run will be slored in memory and used to rerine the e~elc;se rrorlle of tlle same persnn. Since lhis requires a Ieehnique lo (listinglli.sh be~ween diffelent rersons using the e~ereise equipment, idenLirler~s are use~l a.c ale used with tll~digitally cn-eoded signal (i.e., the iden~ificalion porlion).

A mic,~,r,,uc~sur in the exereise equir)mellt will ~ake into aecount the present and previous heart ra~es of lhe person and makc the.se rates subject to a weight funetion in nr~ier Lo give the m~ consideration to most recent heart rate, but not to di.sre~ard the PIC~;OII.C heart rate.s. For instance, thesame pre.sent heart rate mu.st result in (lirrcrclll actions ;r it is a sudden inc,case nver the previous l1Cal-~ ra~e.c or ir i~ i.s Ihe same as ~hC previous healt rate or even a (ICCI;nC in he;lr~ ra~e. Arler ~l1C exerci~e run, ~he key characteris~ic~s Or ~he run ale ex~r.lc~e(l a~ lotc(l in a memory Or ~he equipmell~ to l~e avail.ll le rOr r~ure e~cerci~e ac~ s~ Or lhe ~ame r~erson.

Fig. ~ .SI1OWS ~l7C vario~ comr~ollcnl~ Or IhC rccci~cl-coll~lollcl unil. T~
unil can inclu(lc ~hc ~ario~ COI11l1011CI1~ llr~ 11 t~n Fi~ vll~re-l~ig. ~
'S 111C rcccivillg mc~n~ 4f~ r" I~Ce;~ hQ (I;g;tallY enCO<Ie(l .~;gl1al 1-from the tr;ln.smi(lin~ unil 12. /~ ougll i~ 110t .~l10~VI1 jn F;g. ~, (l1e receiver/controllel Ullit ~volll(l inclu~le Ille Ir.lllcmi~el .~4 (Fig. .~) u~ ochange rrQquellcy ir tllere i~ e~ce.~.~ inl¢l rclellce. The runclion~ Of the o~her componcllt~ (signal c~ U~llt)r 4X~ 111CI1101Y ~ r)la~ 2, ;11l-Ut tCrn1;nal SUBSrlTUTE SHEET (RULE 26~
-S~ ~
60 an~ micr~ roce.~ r (.2 -r ~ig. .s) .~c r~rO~itlc(l l,v tlle comr)nnenuc shown in Fig. 8.

Mieroproeessnr 72 ic a majOr eomponen~ nf the reeeiver-eontroller an(l provides the logie signal reengnitioll an(l idenlirlcalioll and instruetions to the exereice parameter eontrol unil 74 for eontrolling the exerei.ce inten-sity in aeeordanee with a desired exerei.ce r~rol~le based on the target per-son the type Or CxCIC;SC to be un(lertakell an(l ~lle time period for the magnetic strip reader 7fi is use(l ac an idenliriea~ion means in order to identify ~he target person. Other forms Or idenlifieatioll eoul(l alco be used ineluding a keyboard entry Or a eo(le(l klen~irlel. The l~urpose of ~his eomponent is ~o identify the exereisin~ ~ er.con to lhe equil~ment so that the reeeiver in the reeeiver-eontrol unit will be synehlonize(l w;th thc trans-mitting unil ~c~ d to tllat user. ~urlller, tlle use Or an input dcvicc, such as a magnclic strip car~l wllicll ean be rca(i hy rcadcr 76 enablcs a pcrson to load his or hcr pcr~onal (iata inlo an in~crnal ~ y 78 so that a proper profilc can bc assi~ncd by mi~ ..3c.;~ r 72. It may bc that the intcrnal mcmory 78 already has storc(l informa~ion rclativc to that uscr which can bc dircctly implcmcnlcd by ~he mic.opr.~ces:~or 72 in establish-ing al~e e~ ,c;se parameler eontrol uni~ 74 ror a r~ar~ieular recistanee pedal speed elevation ele. depen(ling u~ on ~he Iyr~e Or exereice equipment to be used (exereice bike stairelimher e~e.).

~ eonsole input ~0 sl~eh a.c a keyboar~l meehanicm ~r remt~te eon~rol ic alco eleetrieally (:OnllCC~C(I 10 lhC miclorloce~;~ol 72. The e~-n.cole input uni~ ~0 a11O~ .c ~he u.~er to m:lllually conllol ll~e exerci.ce rarameter.c he/clle ~-isllec. to emr~lov lhelel-Y ~lvelri(lill~ e rr(lrile ennlr(ll ~hal ~he miero-r~roee.c.eor ?2 ~oul(l n(lrm.lllv a(lor-l. Con<;ole inl~ () all(lw.c ~lle user to via~c rrOm rroglammc~l collllol -r l11C C!~CICjCC C~U;r)lnCn~ any ~ime Icpcn(ling on pcrsollal ncc(lc all(l (Icsilc.c.

Concole disr lay X2 reeeive.c inp~c frOm microploce~l r 72 an(l disl-la~ the person c hear~ rate. Di.cplav.c ale al.co r,-, in(licating exerei.ce parameter~cSU(:Il ac pedal spee(l resi~allce~ elevation etc. a.c well as ~ime height -2~-SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) wo 94/21171 21 5 8 5 S 2 PCTIUSg4/02770 weight, age elc. In a norl~ l r)ro~ram. One lllil(l Of tlle comr)lete exerci~
time ~oulcl l~c u~e~ ror wal~ ur al1(1 Onc ~hil~ voul(l l~e use ror cool down. The remaining one IlIird wolll(l he u~e(l to pro~ide an exereise regimen at the desired heart rate, tvllicll cnul(l, for example, be at an aerobic rate (about 70n/0 Or the desile(l ma~imum hefll-~ rate ror that indi-vidual.

Internal memory unit 7~ conLaillf; ~fitore(l plo~ralll.fi ror lhe opera~ion of tlle microproee~sor, inelu(ling tllo~ rogram~ ~-hieh enable il ~o analyze the ineoming digitally encode(l f;ignal in or(ler to read tlle identi~lcation r~art,error correetion pal~, and llear~ ra~e (lata poltinn, af; ~Ieserihed l~reviously.
Memory 7~ also provi(les ~torage r dala or ~he user at tlla~ time, including ~he user's previollfi workout data. Tlle a(l~all~a~e Or internal memory 78 is that it enables tlle reeeiver-eontroller unil ~o reeognize the pa~t per-formanee of a person in clr(ler ~o be~ler eonlrol lluclllalion~ tha~ might bc seen when a new exereise l-rogram ~ar~s. In thi~ manner, the miero-proces:.~r 72 will not eall ror r?~dieal ehange.s of th~ ¢~er- ;,e paramctcr control 74 duc to nonsignificant clIangcs in heart ra~c. Fc~r cxamplc, it may bc that a person's hcart ra~c jump~ ~n a hi~h Icvcl vcry ~uickly in thc warm-up phase Or exereise, and lhereafler stabilizes. Having this data in internal memory 78 rrevents ~he mic.~,pr )ce:.:...r from radieally dec.~ asi,-g the resistance, e~c. Of tllc cxerci~c CqUir)lllCIl~ WhiCIl Wl)UI(l not provide the proper warm-up fol- ~hi~ ~yr~e Or r~er.~oll. or collrsc, ~hc u.~er ean override any preprogralIlmecl plofile by U.~illg IIIC COI1~0lC inr)llt ~sO.

An ex~ernal memoly unit ~4, u~ing rOr exallIl-le a magnetic or or)tieal disk, providc.~ a univcl~al ~vay r-,- a~ villg allv ~ icc~ .r Qxelei~e eqllil-m~nt tohe u.~e(l I-y any in(livi(lllal. I~or examr)le, a pQI~Il C.'lll take lIi~/hel (lisk to any gym all(l Cll~.CI a de~il-e(l r~rofilQ U.~iill~ the ex~ernal memory unit ~4 which illlCIf~lCl~ ~vitlI llle ~ -Or~-OCC.fi.~iOI- 7~. WIICI1 ~lli.fi if; (IOlle~ tllCl-~e ~n ~ Ii(le Or :ll-y r-~orile l-lo~ l r~o~-- il~t~lll.~l Illem()~ 7~, or tl ufiel can ~lect lo U.f;C a der.lult rro,elalll ~ re(l in in~elnal melllory 7~.

The rollo~hlg ~ ill now d~tail tl)e Uf;Q or e~rcif;e e~l~lir)mell~ ol-erated under con~ol Or tllc Icccivcl-con-~ollcr ~Ir~ r ~ llclc ~I~c biomedical re-cponsC ic illustrativcl5~ a llcart ra~c a.s mc:l.clllc(l all(l wirclc.ssly transmi~tcd SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26 WO 94121171 PCT/llS94102770 2l585S2 u~in& lllc monitol ~r "~ix in~cn~in~ 1l nrcralion lllc u~er rnxt idcntirlc~
himselr at thc con~olc of Lllc CXClCi~C c~luir~mcll~ r)rior to thc excrcixe, e g, l~y cn~cring a ra~word or l~y u~in~ ~hc m~gnc~ic ~-rir readcr 76 If therc already exists an exercise hixt~iJ y rlle rOr this u~cr, ~hc user i~ asked ~o enter some information about ilie exercixe ~hich l1C/SI1C r)lans t(l do This in-formation is entered using lhe cnnsole inpLIl uni~ f~O and may include the planned exercise time and lhe type of exerci~e, XUCI1 a~s interval training or cardiovascular wnrkout The user can alxo o~er r i(le the automatic profile generation stored in internal mem-~ry 7~ l~y entering his/her own intensity or heart ra~e profile. This can be done, for example, l~y inserling the user's disk in ~hC external memory reader ~4 Ir ~hCIC ;~ no exercisc history filc for the user in internal memory 7~ anci no ~slore(l dala is en~ered using unit 84, ~he user is asked ~o en~er variou~s p erxonal data such as age, weighl, height, gender etc These (la~a will lllen l~e ~loled in the exercise history ~lle of the user in in~ernal rnem~-ry 7~, an(l will l~e used ror his/her future e~ercises The user ~hen receives varioux der~ul~ prorlles from whieh to choose These profiles will inelude a ~var~ ul- ~ime, a eool-down period and a period of time in whieh ?n aerol~ie hearl rate will be maintained.

The user then a~taehes the hear~ rate monitor lo the apr,.u~).iate body part, usually the ehest, an(l takes the clesired r~o~sition on the e~, .s~
equipment withoul ~starting exereixing The mi~.~,pr~)c~:.or 72 controls whe~her a hear~ rate i~ ot~laine(l an(l ~vlle~ller ~he ~ransmi~sion is reliable,~ha~ i~s, whetller lhe hear~ ra~e i~ no~ nuc~ua~illg in a large range or is out-side the exrlected range. Ir anylhing unuxllal ix regislere(l, the user is asked~o ~ake eorreclive ac~ion, SIICI1 as moixlenillg ~hC electrodes Or tlle trans-mitter unit The u~er can al~(l o~erli(le Ihix rcl~urc ir he/slle is cnnvince(l lhat everyllling ix rme and ir ~hc u~cl ~n~ hal llic/llcr heall rale i~ un-u~ually high or low J~f~cr tlli~, lhe U~CI i~ a~kc(l ~ ~arl CXC`ICi';hl,~. rhC rU.~ 1Orl lime frame Or IO~V ;11lCn.~;lY CXCIC;~C ;~ C(I r~-~ t11~ ~lliC10pl-OCC~i~O1 72 (O CSl~
baseline ror ~l1C USCI l hix l~aXCI;I1C relleclx 1I1C ruccell~ ~a~e of the uxer and thus cl-llxidcl~ momclltary he.~ , r ~ lc lack of slccr, dict elc Basccl on this l~asclinc and on IhC ~CICClC(I C~CIC;~C r~rOr~IC~ m;CrPIOCCS~r SllB~TlTlJTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 94/21171 ~ 1 5 8 5 S 2 PCT/US94/02770 7~ makc~ ~ prclimin~ry l~ nmcll~ .r cxcrci~c r)~ramclcrs lo timc r (lint~
during ~hc cxcrcise run an(l lhc cxpcc~cd hcall ratc Aftcr thcse prcliminarics, thc uscr stalts his/llcr cxcrcisc The heart ratc is continuously monilorcd snd transmillc(l to Ihc rcccivcr 46 in ~hc excrcise cquipment Rcccivcr 46 transfcns ~hc cla~a ~o ~hc microl-roc~ssc,r 72 whcrc ~he in~cgrity of the data i~s chcckcd. Ir lhc data passcs this in~cgri~y chcck, me~ning that no error has bccn dc~cc~c(3, ~hc mcasurc~l hcart ra~c is use(i ~o ad just thc cxercisc in~cnsity Icvcl ita!;C(I on ~hc dcvia~ion Or thc mcasurcd heart ratc from thc Itrojcc~cd hcart ra~c lf thc CXClCisc cquiltmcnt has sc-vcral paramctcrs to hc scl, for cxamplc pc(lal rpm and rcsis~ancc in an cxercise bikc, thc uscr rcccivcs a proposc(l valuc for a Itaramctcr thal he/she can control For cxamplc, ~hc u~cr can sc~ Illc pcdal rpm at 80 rpm whilc thc othcr paramctcr (rcsistancc) is adjuslc(l hy thc rcccivcr-controllcr in accordancc wi~h thc contlnuously moni~orc(J hcar~ ra~c. If it can bc dctcctGd ~hat thc uscr canno~ main~ain thc suggcslcd paramctcr, thc pro-poscd parametcr is modirlcd. F~or c~amplc, tllc l,lul-oscd pcdal rpm valuc can bc rcduccd to 70. If micl~c(",lpu~cr 72 dclcct~s a scqucncc of crrors in the rcccivcd data, it nolifics the uscr via Illc consolc display 82 that it cannot any longer control the run based on the me&.,~t~d heart rale.
Miclop.u~ r 72 then gives thc u~cr thc choice to continue the ~;A~ .i5 run withou~ this control or to graclually s~op ~hc ccercisc. This ottcration runs undcr conlrol Or inslrllcli(llls ICCCh'C(I rl'OIll illtCrllal I~IC1ll0l.~ 78 Ir the hcarl monilor scnscs rccullcn~ crlors l~cyond lhat which can bc cor-rcctcd by thc crror ~Ie~cclioll and corlcc~ n mc.lns, a rrcqucncy change is uscd ~o dctcrminc anolhcr frc~llcncy in ~ hicll corrcc~ lcs~ ~ransmission of thc corrccl hcar~ ralc ~ill hc Ol-laillCd.

Af~cr thc cxcrcisc run, IlliClOpl(lCCS~;OI 72 ~vill cxlract lhC kcy characlcr-is.ics Or ~hc cxcrcisc, SllCIl ;1~ maXillllllll hC~ C .lr~CI' ;l SpCCirlCd CXClCiSC
~imc, thc rclcvan~ inLcn~ily Icvcl, W;~ llp an(l cool-(lown ~imc~, an(l basclillc valucc at Illc bc&inllill& an(l aL ~hc cn(l ..r thc cxcrci~c run Thc~ckcy characlcrislics will hc slolc(l hl in~crllai IllC11101y ill lhc cxcrcisc hislory r~lc rOr ~hc spcciric uscr Thcy can also hc ~VI itlcn ill~O an CXtCI 11al IllCmOry disk placcd in lI1C rcccivcr-c(~ lollcl cxlcl-n;ll mcmory unil ~4 SUBSTITLITE SHEET (RULE 26~

wo 94/21171 PCT/US94/02770 2158~5 ~ ' In contra~t ~ cxi~tin~ ccluirmcn~ c lr r~r~u~ ~ho~-~n in Fi~ 7 an(l 8 uscs a microl~rocessor an~l a~ocialcd mcnloric~ to s~ore hackground in-formation indicaLive Or a par~icular r~cr~t~n, and u~c~ idcntirlcation means ~o ~ailor an exercise run lo a u~er's sl-ecirlc t rorllc Furthcr, ~his equip-mcnt is based on an instantaneous heart r~e nleasuremen~ a~ all times, not just on a single set heart ra~e or 011 r~rer~rogrammed limes for setting vari-ous c~ ise Ievel~ Because tlle monilor )f thi~ invcntion providcs crror detcction and correc~ion, and bccause i~ h.ls lile ca~ ability Or changin~
frequency in ordcr ~o climinalc in~errerellce errects, it can be used on all types of exercisc equipmcnt and hl thc plescncc Or many uscrs in ~he samc exereise room Tllat is, ~llC proximi~y or many uscrs wearing heart moni-tors and closely spaced mo~or-drivell CXClCi~C equipmcnt will no~ Iead ~o crrors This is particularly imporlall~ where the exerci~se run is being eon-~rolled throughout iL~ time duration in accnr(lance ~ilh a eontinuously monitoled heart rate Th~, tllc u.sc Or ~he monilor of this invcntion ~o providc eontinuous contlol cxcrcise cquir~mcnl olrers scvcral uni~uc fca-~urcs and advantages.

While this invcntion has bccn dcscribcd with rcspcct to particular cmbod-imcnts thcrcof it will bc apparcn~ ~o ~hose Or skill in thc art that variations may be madc without dcparting from ~he spirit and scopc Or thc prcscnt invention, whieh is ~o bc mcasured only hy (lle apl-ended elaims. Body ~ponscs o~llcr than heart rale, sucll a~ lempera~ule, hlood prcssurc etc can also be usc(l to automatieally control cxcrci~e USillg this monitor TITIITE SHEFT ~RULE 26~

Claims (156)

1. A monitor for determining and displaying a biomedical condition including:
sensor means for sensing a biomedical condition and producing an output, transmitting means including means for producing a first identification signal identifying said transmitter means and means for using said sensor output to produce a second signal used to determine a biomedical condition, said transmitting means including a transmitter for wirelessly and repeatedly transmitting said first and second signals to a receiver over a first frequency, a receiver for receiving said first identification signal and said second signal, as well as interfering signals, if any, identification means using said received first identification signal to determine if said second signal is from said transmitting means thereby overcoming the effect of said interfering signals, means for rejecting said second signal if it is not from said transmitting means, means using said second signal to determine said biomedical condition, and a display means forty displaying said biomedical condition if said second signal is from said transmitting means.

2. The monitor of Claim 1, further including encoding means for digitally encoding said first and second signals.

3. The monitor of Claim 1, further including an encoder for digitally encoding said first signal.

4. The monitor of Claim 1, further including means for producing a reference signal and means for comparing said second signal received by said receiver to a reference signal to determine if transmission errors have accursed in said second signal.

5. The monitor of Claim 4, further including means in said transmitter for setting the frequency over which said wireless transmission occurs and means for changing the frequency over which said wireless transmission occurs from said first frequency to a second frequency, said receiver including means enabling the receiver to receive wireless transmission at said second frequency.

6. A method of monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
using a sensor to obtain an output based on a biomedical condition of said person, said output being related to the heartbeat rate of said person, producing a first signal used to determine heartbeat rate from said sensor output, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said first signal aver a first frequency from a transmitter to a receiver, determining the heartbeat rate, changing the frequency over which said first signal is wirelessly sent from said transmitter to said receiver, to a second frequency, adapting the receiver to receive wireless transmission from said transmitter at said second frequency, and displaying said heartbeat rate.

7. The method of Claim 6, including the further step of providing an identification signal representing said transmitter, and repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, wherein said heartbeat rate is displayed only if said identification signal is received by said receiver.

8. The method of Claim 7, including the further step of encoding said identification signal.

9. The method of Claim 8, where said identification signal is digitally encoded.

10. The method of Claim 7, including the step of encoding said first signal.

11. A method of monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
using a sensor to obtain an output based on a biomedical condition of a person, said biomedical condition containing heartbeat information, using said sensor output to produce a first signal used to determine heartbeat rate, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said first signal over a first frequency from a transmitter to a receiver, producing an identification signal identifying said transmitter even in the presence of interfering signals, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, determining said heartbeat rate using said first signal, and displaying said heartbeat rate only if said said identification signal identifies said transmitter.

12. The method of Claim 11, including the step of encoding said identification signal.

13. The method of Claim 12, where said encoding step is a digital encoding step.

14. The method of Claim 11, including the step of encoding said first signal.

15. A personal heartbeat monitor comprising:
sensor means far providing an output responsive to a biomedical condition, said biomedical condition containing heartbeat information, means for producing a first signal from the output of said sensor means, said first signal being usable to determine heartbeat rate, a transmitter for repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said first signal from said transmitter to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said first signal that is wirelessly transmitted from said transmitter, means for determining heartbeat rate using said first signal, means enabling the frequency over which said repeated wireless transmission of said first signal occurs to be changed, means enabling said receiver to match the frequency change of said transmitter, and display means for displaying heartbeat rate.

16. The monitor of Claim 15, including means for producing an identification signal associated with said transmitter, means for repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, means in said receiver for using said identification signal to determine if said first signal is from said transmitter and means for enabling said heartbeat rate to be displayed if said first signal is from said transmitter.

17. The monitor of Claim 16, including means for encoding said identification signal.

18. The monitor of Claim 15, where said receiver is sufficiently small to be hand-held by a person using said personal heartbeat rate monitor.

19. A biomedical condition monitor comprising;
a sensor for producing an output based on a biomedical condition, an encoder for producing an encoded digital signal from said output, a transmitting unit far repeated wireless transmission of said encoded digital signal to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said wirelessly transmitted encoded digital signal, means for receiving and using said first signal encoded digital signal to produce a signal representative of said biomedical condition, correction means for correcting errors in said signal representative of said biomedical condition, and a display for displaying said biomedical condition.

20. The monitor of Claim 19, where said biomedical condition is heartbeat rate.

21. The monitor of Claim 19, further including means in said transmitter for producing electromagnetic pulses for identifying said transmitter and an identification circuit that receives said electromagnetic pulses for determining if said wirelessly transmitted encoded digital signal is from said transmitting unit.

22. The monitor of Claim 19, further including a frequency circuit for enabling a change in the frequency over which said wireless transmission occurs if interference in said transmission occurs.

23. A personal heart rate monitor, including a transmitting means for producing an encoded signal representative of a person's heart rate, said transmitting means including sensor means for producing a signal representative of a person's heart rate, said transmitter means containing a transmitter for repeated wireless transmission of said encoded signal to a receiving means, and a receiving means for receiving said repeated wireless transmission of said encoded signal, means for determining if said received encoded signal is from said transmitting means, means for detecting errors in the received encoded signal, correction means for presenting to a display a signal representing heart rate that corrects for said errors, and a display for displaying said heart rate.

24. The personal monitor of claim 23, where said correction means includes means for changing the frequency over which said encoded signal is transmitted, said frequency changing reducing the likelihood of errors in said wireless transmission.

25 . The personal monitor of claim 23, where said means for determining if said received encoded signal is from said transmitting means includes means for generating a series of electromagnetic pulsed used to discriminate transmission of said encoded signal from said transmitting means from any other transmission.

26. The personal monitor of claim 25, where said series of electromagnetic pulses is unique to the transmitting means and receiving means.

27 A method for personal monitoring of a biomedical condition, including the steps of using a sensor to produce an output representative of said biomedical condition, producing an encoded signal representative of a biomedical condition from said sensor output, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said encoded signal from a transmitter to a receiver, receiving said encoded signal in said receiver, determining if said encoded signal received by said receiver is from said transmitter, rejecting said encoded signal if it is not from said transmitter, detecting if said received encoded signal deviates from: an expected pattern of said encoded signal, recovering from said deviation if present in said received encoded signal to produce a signal representing said biomedical condition for display, and displaying said biomedical condition if said encoded signal is from said transmitter.

28. The method of claim 27 , where the steps of determining if said encoded signal received by said receiver is from said transmitter includes the steps of producing a series of pulses that identify said transmitter to said receiver, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said series of pulses from said transmitter to said receiver, and reading said series of pulses to determine if said encoded signal in said receiver is from said transmitter.

29.~The method of claim 28, including the step of determining the magnitude of said biomedical condition using the output of said sensor, and wirelessly transmitting a signal representing said magnitude from said transmitter to said receiver.

30. A personal monitor for monitoring a biomedical condition, including sensor means for producing an output used to determine said biomedical condition. said output being sent to an encoder, an encoder for producing an encoded signal used to determine said biomedical condition, a transmitter for repeated wireless transmission of said encoded signal to a receiver, said wireless transmission being subject to interference from sources of electromagnetic energy other than said transmitter, a receiver for receiving said encoded signal from said transmitter.
means for determining the value of said biomedical condition from said sensor output, means for determining in the presence of interference, if said encoded signal received in said receiver is from said transmitter, means for rejecting said encoded signal if it is not from said transmitter, means for detecting errors in said received encoded signal, means for correcting said errors, and means for displaying said biomedical condition.

31 . The personal monitor of claim 30 , where said means for determining the value of said biomedical condition produces an output that is sent to said encoder, said encoder producing an encoded signal representing the value of said biomedical condition, said encoded signal being repeatedly wirelessly transmitted to said receiver.

32. The personal monitor of claim 31, where said encoder is a digital encoder.

33. The personal monitor of claim 31, where said biomedical condition is heartbeat rate.

34. A personal heart rate monitor, including a sensor for producing an output used to determine heart rate, means using the output of said sensor for producing a heart rate signal representing heart. rate, an encoder for encoding said heart rate signal to produce an encoded heart rate signal, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said encoded heart rate signal to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said encoded heart rate signal from said transmitter, identification means for determining if said received encoded heart rate signal is from said transmitter, means for detecting errors in said received encoded heart rate signal, means for correcting said errors, and means for using said received encoded heart rate signal for displaying said heart rate.

35. The personal monitor of claim 34, where said encoder produces a series of pulses that represent heart rate and provide an identification cede that is read by said identification means to determine if said received encoded signal is from said transmitter.

36. The personal monitor of claim 35, where said encoder includes means for digitally encoding said heart rate signal.

37, The monitor of claim 4, further including correction means for correcting said errors.

38. The monitor of claim 1, further including correction means for correcting errors in said second signal used to determine said biomedical condition.

39 ~ The method of claim 11 , including the further steps of detecting if said first signal deviates from an expected pattern and recovering from said deviation if present in said received first signal to produce a signal representing heartbeat rate.

40. The method of claim 11 , including the further steps of detecting an error in said first signal and correcting said first signal.

41. An apparatus for controlled exercise of a user, including in combination:
means for producing a first signal used to determine the heartbeat rate of a user of said apparatus, a transmitting unit including means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting, unit further including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification, signal over a first frequency to a receiver-control unit, exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for adjusting a parameter that affects the exercise workout of said user, a receiver-control unit located on said exercise equipment for control of said parameter control means in said exercise equipment in response to said user's heartbeat rate said receiver-control unit including a receiving means for receiving said wirelessly transmitted identification signal and said first signal and display means for displaying said user's heartbeat rate, a microprocessor located in said receiver-controller unit for determining if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit and for providing a control signal to said parameter control means in response to said user's heartbeat race of said identification signal is from said transmitting unit, said parameter control means being responsive to said control signal for adjusting said parameter over time in response to said user's heartbeat rate, identification means located in said receiver-control unit responsive to an entry by said user fo identifying said user, first memory means for storing a profile of heart rate response of said user of said exercise equipment, input means connected to said microprocessor for enabling said user to control said parameter control means independently of said profile, and second memory means coupled to said microprocessor for receiving a recording of an exercise program specific to a particular user.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, where said transmitting unit includes means for detecting and correcting errors in said measured heartbeat rate.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 further including means for detecting an error in said first signal received by said receiving means and frequency change means for changing the frequency over which said identification signal and said first signal are transmitted if said error is detected.

44. An apparatus for exercise based on a human biomedical condition including in combination:
means for detecting said biomedical condition and for producing a first signal used to determine said biomedical condition of a person using said apparatus.
a transmitting unit including means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification signal to a receiver located on a piece of exercise equipment, exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for adjusting a parameter that affects the exercise workout of said person, a receiver located on said exercise equipment for receiving said identification signal and said first signal, a display means located on said exercise equipment for displaying said biomedical condition, a microprocessor for reading, and decoding said encoded digital identification signal to determine the identity of the transmitting unit from which said first signal and said identification signal are sent and for producing a control signal to said parameter control means in response to said person's biomedical condition if said identification signal has been sent from said transmitting unit, means for rejecting said first signal if said identification signal is not transmitted from said transmitting unit, said parameter control means being responsive to said control signal for adjusting sand parameter in response to the biomedical condition of said person, first memory means for storing programs for the operation, of said microprocessor and for storing a profile of the biomedical condition of said person, input means Connected to said microprocessor for enabling said person to control said parameter control means independently of a profile stored in said first memory means, and second memory means coupled to said microprocessor for receiving a recording of an exercise .program specific to said- person, said microprocessor controlling said parameter control means in response to said recording of an exercise program and in response to the continuous measurement of said biomedical condition.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 where said biomedical condition is heartbeat rate.

46. The apparatus of claim44 where said transmitting unit includes means for enabling said unit to be worn by said person using the exercise equipment.

47. The apparatus of claim 44 further including identification means coupled to said microprocessor, said identification means being responsive to an entry by said person identifying said person to said exercise equipment.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 where said identification means is a magnetic card reader for reading a magnetic code identifying said person, said profile controlling said parameter control means only if said person is identified.

49. An apparatus for controlled exercise in response to continuous monitoring of a person's heart rate, comprising in combination:
exercise equipment having parameter control means therein for increasing or decreasing the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to a user of said equipment, a transmitting unit including first means for measuring said user's heart rate and for producing a first signal used to determine the user's heart rate and second means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification signal to a receiving means, receiving means located in said exercise equipment for receiving said signals via wireless transmission from said transmitting unit and for providing said received signals to a microprocessor means, microprocessor means in said exercise equipment for providing a control signal to said parameter control means for determining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user if said first signal is from said transmitting unit, said control signal being proportional try a measured heart rate of said user when operating said exercise equipment. said microprocessor means including means for determining if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit.
display means in said exercise equipment for displaying the user's heart rate.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 further including identification means coupled to said microprocessor responsive to the entry of an identification code specific to said user so that said receiver will reject said received first signal unless it is transmitted from said transmitting unit.

51. The apparatus of claim 49, further including means for providing a signal for display representative o~ the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user.

52. An apparatus for controlled exercise of a user, including:
means for producing a first signal used to determine the heartbeat of a user of said apparatus, a transmitting unit including means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit further including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification signal over a first frequency to a receiver-control unit, exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for adjusting a parameter that affects the exercise workout of said user, a receiver-control unit located on said exercise equipment for control of said parameter control means in said exercise equipment in response to said user's heartbeat rate, said receiver-control unit including a receiving means for receiving said wirelessly transmitted identification signal and said first signal, processor means located in said receiver-controller unit for determining if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit and for providing a control signal to said parameter control means in response to said user's heartbeat rate if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit, said parameter control means being responsive to said control signal for adjusting said parameter over time in response to said user's heartbeat rate.

53, The apparatus of claim 52 including input means coupled to said processor means for enabling said user to control said parameter control means independently of said control signal.

54. The apparatus of claim 52 including memory means for storing a profile of heart rate response of said user.

55. The apparatus of claim 52 including display means located on said exercise equipment for displaying said user's heart rate.

56. The apparatus of claim 52 where said transmitting unit includes means for detecting and correcting errors in said measured heartbeat rate.

57, The apparatus of claim 56 further including means for detecting an error in said first signal received by said receiving means and frequency change means for changing the frequency over which said identification signal and said first signal are transmitted if said error is detected.

58. An apparatus for exercise based on a human biomedical condition including in combination:
means for detecting said biomedical condition and for producing a first signal used to determine said biomedical condition of a person using said apparatus, a transmitting unit including means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification signal to a receiver located on a piece of exercise equipment, exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for adjusting a parameter that affects the exercise workout of said person, a receiver located on said exercise equipment for receiving said identification signal and said first signal, processor means for reading and decoding said encoded digital identification signal to determine the identity of the transmitting unit from which said first signal and said identification signal are sent and for producing a control signal to said parameter control means in response to said person's biomedical condition if said identification signal has been sent from said transmitting unit, said parameter control means being responsive to said control signal for adjusting said parameter in response to the biomedical condition of said person.

59. The apparatus of claim 58 further including display means located on said exercise equipment for displaying said biomedical condition.

60. The apparatus of claim58 where said biomedical condition is heartbeat rate.

61. The apparatus of claim 58 where said transmitting unit includes means for enabling said unit to be worn by said person using the exercise equipment.

62. The apparatus of claim 58 further including identification means coupled to said processor means, said identification means being responsive to an entry by said person identifying said person to said exercise equipment.

63. The apparatus of claim 62 where said identification means is a magnetic card reader for reading a magnetic code identifying said person, said profile controlling said parameter control means only if said person is identified.

64. The apparatus of claim 58 further including means for changing the frequency oven which said first signal and said identification signal are wirelessly transmitted.

65, The apparatus of claim 58 wherein said first signal is digitally encoded.

66. An apparatus for controlled exercise in response to continuous monitoring of a person's heart rate, comprising in combination:
exercise equipment having parameter control means therein for increasing or decreasing the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to a user of said equipment.
a transmitting unit including first means for detecting said user's heartbeat and for producing a first signal used to determine the user's heart rate and second means for producing an identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting first signal and said identification signal to a receiving means, receiving means located in said exercise equipment for receiving said signals via wireless transmission from said transmitting unit and for providing said received signals to a processor means, processor means for providing a control signal to said parameter control means for determining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user if said first signal is from said transmitting unit, said control signal being proportional to a measured heart rate of said user when operating said exercise equipment, said processor means including means for determining if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit.

67; The apparatus of claim 66 wherein said first signal and said identification signal are digitally encoded.

68, The apparatus of claim 66 further including display means for displaying said user's heart rate.

69. The apparatus of claim 66 further including identification means coupled to said processor means responsive to the entry of an identification code specific to said user so that said receiver will reject said received first signal unless it is transmitted from said transmitting unit.

70. The apparatus of claim 66 further including means for providing a signal for display representative of the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user.

71, An apparatus for controlled exercise in response to monitoring of a person's heart rate, comprising in combination:

exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for increasing or decreasing the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to a user of said equipment, a transmitting unit including means for detecting said user's heart beat and for producing an encoded digital signal used to determine the user's heart rate, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said encoded digital signal to a receiving means, receiving means located in said exercise equipment for receiving said encoded digital signal via wireless transmission from said transmitting unit and for providing said received signal to a processor means, processor means in said exercise equipment for providing a control signal to said parameter control means for determining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user, said control signal being related to a measured heart rate of said user when operating said exercise equipment.

72, The apparatus of claim 71 further including identification means coupled to said processor means responsive to the entry of an identification code specific to said user so that said receiver will reject said received digitally encoded signal unless it is transmitted from said transmitting unit.

73. The apparatus of claim 71 , further including means for providing a signal for display representative of the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user.

74. The apparatus of claim 71 further including means for producing an encoded digital identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said identification signal being wirelessly transmitted to said receiving means.

75. An apparatus for controlled exercise in response to monitoring of a persons heart rate, comprising in combination:
exercise equipment having parameter control means therein for increasing or decreasing the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to a user of said equipment, a transmitting unit including first means for producing a first signal proportional to said user's heart rate and second means for producing an identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting first signal and said identification signal to a receiving means, receiving means located in said exercise equipment for receiving said signals via wireless transmission from said transmitting unit and for providing said received signals to a processor means, processor means in said exercise equipment for providing a control signal to said parameter control means for determining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user if said first signal is from said transmitting unit, said control signal being proportional to a measured heart rate of said user when operating said exercise equipment, said processor means including means for determining if said identification signal is from said transmitting unit.

76. The apparatus of claim 75 further including identification means coupled to said microprocessor responsive to the entry of an identification code specific to said user so that said receiver will reject said received first signal unless it is transmitted from said transmitting unit.

77. The apparatus of Claim 75 further including means for providing a signal for display representative of the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user.

78, The apparatus of claim 75 where said first signal and said identification signal are encoded digital signals.

79, An apparatus for exercise based on a biomedical condition including in combination:
means for producing a first signal used to determine said biomedical condition of a person using said apparatus, a transmitting unit including means for producing an identification signal identifying said transmitting unit, said transmitting unit also including a transmitter for repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said first signal and said identification signal to a receiver located on a piece of exercise equipment, exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for adjusting a parameter that affects the exercise workout of said person, a receiver located on said exercise equipment for receiving said identification signal and said first signal, a display means located on said exercise equipment for displaying said biomedical condition, means for producing a control signal to said parameter control means in response to said person's biomedical condition as indicated by said transmitted first signal if said identification signal identifies said transmitting unit, said parameter control means being responsive to said control signal for adjusting said parameter in response to the biomedical condition of said person.

80, The apparatus of claim 79, where said biomedical condition is heartbeat rate.

81. The apparatus of claim 79 including means enabling a change in the frequency over which said first signal and said identification signal are wirelessly sent to said receiver.

82. The apparatus of claim 79 further including identification means located on said exercise equipment, said identification means being responsive to an entry by said person identifying said person to said apparatus.

83. The apparatus of claim79 where said identification signal is a coded signal.

84. The apparatus of claim 83 where said identification signal is digitally encoded.

85. The apparatus of claim 79 where said first signal is digitally encoded.

86. A method for controlled exercise of a person in response to continuous monitoring of a person's heart rate, including the steps of:
providing exercise equipment having a parameter control means therein for changing or maintaining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to a user of said equipment, producing a first signal used to determine the user's heart rate, repeatedly wirelessly transmitting said first signal from a transmitter to a receiver located on said exercise equipment, receiving said wirelessly transmitted first signal at a receiver located in said exercise equipment, using said repeatedly received first signal to develop control signals that are sent to said parameter control means located in said exercise equipment, said control signals determining the resistance offered by said exercise equipment to said user, said control signals being related to the heartbeat rage of said user.

87. The method of claim 86 including the further step of changing the frequency over which said first signal is wirelessly transmitted.

88, The method of Claim 86 including the further step of providing an identification signal identifying the transmitter, said identification signal being repeatedly wirelessly sent to said receiver.

89. The method of claim 88 including the further step of changing the frequency over which said fist signal and said identification signal are repeatedly wirelessly transmitted to said receiver.

90. The method of claim 88 where said identification signal is an encoded signal.

91. The method of claim 86 where said identification signal is digitally encoded.

82. The method of claim 86 where said first signal is digitally encoded.

93. A biomedical condition personal monitor, including:
a wearable transmitting means for producing an encoded digital signal representative of a person's biomedical condition, said transmitting means including sensor means for producing an electrical signal representative of said biomedical condition, said transmitter means containing a transmitter for wireless transmission of said encoded digital signal to a display means sad a display means for producing a display of said person's biomedical condition, said display means including a receiver for receiving said wireless transmission of said encoded digital signal, means for determining if said received encoded signal is from said transmitting unit, means for detecting errors in the received encoded digital signal and means for correcting said errors in said wireless transmission.

94, The monitor of claim 93, where said transmitting means includes means for encoding said electrical signal representative of a person's biomedical condition to produce said encoded digital signal, said signal including a first part identifying said monitor and a second part which represents the biomedical condition of said person.

95. The monitor of claim 94, wherein said means for determining includes means for comparing said received encoded digital signal with a reference signal produced by said display means to determine if said received encoded digital signal has been sent from said transmitting means.

96. A personal monitor, including:
a means for producing an encoded signal representative of a biomedical condition related to a person's heartbeat, a transmitter for wireless transmission of said encoded signal to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said wireless transmission of said encoded signal, an identification device for determining if said received encoded signal is from said transmitter, a detector for detecting errors in the received encoded signal, a correcting device for correcting said errors in said wireless transmission, and a display for indicating said biomedical condition.

97. the monitor of claim 96, including an encoder for producing an encoded digital signal, said encoded digital signal including a first part for identifying said monitor and a second part which can be used to determine said biomedical condition.

98. A monitor for determining and displaying heart rate including:
sensor means for sensing a biomedical condition and producing outputs, transmitting means including means for producing a first identification signal identifying said transmitting means and means for using said sensor outputs to produce second signals used to determine heart rate, said transmitting means transmitting said first and second signals to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said first identification signal and said second signals, as well as interfering signals, if any, identification means using said received first identification signal to determine if said second signals are from said transmitting means, thereby overcoming the effect of said interfering signals, means for rejecting said second signals if said second signals are not from said transmitting means, means using said second signals to determine heart rate, and a display for displaying said heart rate if said second signals are from said transmitting means.

99. The monitor of claim 98, where said sensor outputs are related to heartbeats.

100. The monitor of claim 99, where said second signals are pulsed signals related to heartbeats, and said identification signal is an encoded signal.

101. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
using a sensor to obtain outputs based on a biomedical condition of a person, said biomedical condition containing heartbeat information, using said sensor outputs to produce signals used to determine heartbeat rate, said signals representing heartbeats, wirelessly transmitting said signals from a transmitter to a receiver, producing an identification signal identifying said transmitter even.in the presence of interfering signals, wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, determining in said receiver the heartbeat rate using said signals, and displaying said heartbeat rate only if said identification signal identifies said transmitter.

102 The method of claim 101, where a sequence of received signals is tested in said receiver for a match to an expected sequence of heartbeats.

103 . The method of claim 101 where said identification signal and said signals are pulsed signals.

104 A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
obtaining an ECG signal from a person, producing an encoded signal representing heartbeat rate and an identification signal from said ECG signal, wirelessly transmitting said encoded signal and said identification signal from a transmitter to a receiver, using said identification signal to determine if said encoded signal is from said transmitter, displaying said heartbeat rate if said encoded signal is from said transmitter.

105. The method of claim 104, including the step of storing a signal representing a heartbeat rate.

106. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person using a transmitter unit which transmits signals representing a person's heartbeats to a receiver unit, comprising the steps of:
obtaining ECG signals from a person, determining the heartbeats of said person from said ECG signals, producing signals used to determine heartbeat rate from said ECG
signals, said signals also providing a coded identification signal that is shared between said transmitter unit and said receiver unit, wirelessly transmitting said signals from said transmitter unit to said receiver unit, using said coded identification signal to determine if said signals are from said transmitter unit, determining said heartbeat rate in said receiver unit using said signals, rejecting said signals if said signals are not from said transmitter unit, and displaying said heartbeat rate if said signals are from said transmitter unit.

107. The method of claim 106, including the further steps of detecting errors in said signals in said receiver unit and correcting for said errors.

108. The method of claim 106, including the step of storing said signals in said receiver unit.

109. A personal heart rate monitor, comprising a sensor for sensing biomedical signals related to heartbeats, means for transforming a sequence of said sensed biomedical signals to a sequence of transmission signals that can be wirelessly transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver, each said transmission signal being a sequence of pulses the initiation of which coincides with a feature of said biomedical signals, means for generating data signals as part of said transmission signals, means for generating an identification signal for identifying a transmitter-receiver pair, said identification signal being part of said transmission signals, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said sequence of transmission signals to a receiver, said transmitting being initiated by the occurrence of said biomedical signals, a receiver for receiving said sequence of transmission signals, identification means for using said identification signal to determine if said transmission signals in said sequence are from said transmitter, means for rejecting said transmission signals if said transmission signals are not from said transmitter, means for using said sequence of received transmission signals to calculate heart rate if said sequentially received transmission signals are from said transmitter, and a display for displaying said heart rate.

110. The personal monitor of claim 109, further including detection means in said receiver far determining if a transmission signal in a sequence of transmission signals has not been received in said receiver and correction means in said receiver for approximating said heart rate if at least one of said transmission signals of said sequence is missing at said receiver.

111. The personal monitor of claim 111, where said correction means includes means for using said received data signals to determine the number of said missing transmission signals.

112. The personal monitor of claim 109, where said sequence of received transmission signals includes the currently received transmission signal and the immediately preceeding transmission signal.

113. The personal monitor of claim 109, including means for changing the frequency over which wireless transmission occurs.

114. The personal monitor of claim 109, where said biomedical signals are ECG
signals.

115. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
using a sensor to obtain biomedical signal outputs based on a biomedical condition of a person, said biomedical condition containing heartbeat information, using said sensor biomedical signal outputs to produce a sequence of signals used to determine heartbeat rate, said sequence of signals representing heartbeats, wirelessly transmitting said sequence of signals over a first frequency from a transmitter to a receiver, said transmitting being initiated by the outputs of said sensor in response to said biomedical condition, producing an identification signal identifying said transmitter even in the presence of interfering signals, wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, said identification signal being transmitted with each said signal in said sequence of signals, using said sequence of received signals in said receiver to calculate the heartbeat rate of said person if said signals are from said transmitter, rejecting said signals in said receiver if said identification signal indicates that said signals are not from said transmitter, and displaying said heartbeat rate only if said identification signal identifies said transmitter.

116. The method of claim 115, where said sequence of received signals is tested in said receiver for a match to an expected sequence of heartbeats.

117. The method of claim 116, including the step of determining said heartbeat rate if said match occurs.

118. The method of claim 116, including the step of determining an approximate heartbeat rate if said match does not occur.

119. The method of claim 116, where the testing determines the number of heartbeats that have been missed in said receiver since the last successful transmission of a signal representing a heartbeat.

120. The method of claim 119, including the further step of correcting for said missed heartbeats.

121. The method of claim 115, where said wirelessly transmitting steps are initiated by said heartbeats.

122. The method of claim 115, including the further step of changing the frequency over which wireless transmission occurs.

123. The method of claim 115, where said biomedical signal oututs ECG signals

124. A personal heart rate monitor, comprising a sensor for sensing biomedical signals related to heartbeats, circuitry connected to said sensor for transforming a sequence of said sensed biomedical signals to a sequence of transmission signals that can be wirelessly transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver, each said transmission signal being a transmission pattern the initiation of which coincides with a feature of said biomedical signals, a data circuit for generating data signals as part of said transmission signals, a circuit for generating an identification signal for identifying a transmitter-receiver pair, said identification signal being part of said transmission signals, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said sequence of transmission signals to a receiver, said transmitting being initiated by the occurrence of said biomedical signals, a receiver for receiving said sequence of transmission signals, an identification circuit for using said identification signal to determine if each of said transmission signals in said transmission pattern are from said transmitter, a circuit for rejecting any of said transmission signals in said transmission pattern if said transmission signals are not from said transmitter, a calculator circuit for using said sequence of correctly received transmission signals from the corresponding transmitter to calculate heart rate, and a display for displaying said heart rate.

125. The personal monitor of claim 124, where said biomedical signals are ECG
signals.

126. The personal monitor of claim 124, further including a detector in said receiver for determining if a transmission signal in a sequence of transmission signals has not been received in said receiver and a correction circuit in said receiver for approximating said heart rate if at least one of said transmission signals of said sequence is missing at said receiver.

127. The personal monitor of claim 126, where said correction circuit includes a circuit for using said received data signals to determine the number of said missing transmission signals between the currently successfully received transmission signal and the previously successfully received transmission signal.

128. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person comprising the steps of:
using a sensor to obtain biomedical signal outputs based on heartbeats. said sensor directly connected to circuitry for producing a transmission pattern of signals, using said sensor biomedical signal outputs in said circuitry to produce said transmission pattern comprised of a sequence of signals used to determine heartbeat rate, said signals representing heartbeats, wirelessly transmitting said sequence of signals over a first frequency from a transmitter to a receiver, said transmitting being initiated by the outputs of said sensor, producing an identification signal identifying said transmitter even in the presence of interfering signals, wirelessly transmitting said identification signal from said transmitter to said receiver, said identification signal being transmitted with each said signal in said sequence of signals, using said sequence of received signals in said receiver to calculate the heartbeat rate of said person if said signals are from said transmitter, rejecting said signals in said receiver if said identification signal indicates that said signals are not from said transmitter, and displaying said heartbeat rate.

129. The method of claim 128, where said biomedical signal outputs are ECG
signals.

130. The method of claim 128, where said sequence of received signals is tested in said receiver for a match to an expected sequence of heartbeats.

131. The method of claim 138, including the step of determining said heartbeat rate if said match occurs.

132. The method of claim 130, including the step of determining an approximate heartbeat rate if said match does not occur.

133. A method far measurement of heartbeat rate, comprising the steps of detecting a person's heartbeat signal, forming a sequence of pulses corresponding to said person's heartbeats using said heartbeat signal, said sequence containing identification pulses for identification of a transmitter-receiver pair including a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said sequence of pulses from said transmitter to said receiver, wirelessly transmitting said sequence of pulsesfrom said transmitter to said receiver, receiving said sequence of pulses in said receiver, using said identification pulses to identify said sequence of pulses as coming from said transmitter, even in the presence of interference, calculating said heartbeat rate in said receiver using said received sequence of pulses, if said sequence of pulses is from said transmitter, rejecting said sequence of pulses in said receiver if said sequence of pulses is not from said transmitter, and displaying said heartbeat rate.

134. The method of claim 133, including the further steps of determining if a pulse in said sequence of pulses has not been received in said receiver and approximating a heartbeat rate if said pulse has not been received.

135. The method of claim 133, where said identification pulses are coded.

136. The method of claim 135, where said identification pulses are digitally coded.

137. A personal heartbeat rate monitor, comprising:
a sensor for obtaining ECG signals from a person, means connected to said sensor for determining the heartbeats of said person from said ECG signals, means for producing heartbeat rate signals from said heartbeats, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said heartbeat rate signals from said transmitter to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said wirelessly transmitted heartbeat rate signals, means in said receiver for rejecting signals that are not from said transmitter, and display means for displaying the person's heartbeat rate if said received heartbeat rate signals are from said transmitter.

138. The monitor of claim 137, including means for detecting errors in the received heartbeat rate signals.

139. The monitor of claim 138, further including correction means for compensating for said errors.

140. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person using a transmitter unit to transmit signals representing the heartbeat rate of said person to a receiver unit, comprising the steps of using a sensor connected to said transmitter unit to obtain ECG
signals from said person, determining the heartbeats of said person from said ECG signals, producing periodic signals related to said person's heartbeats from said ECG signals, wirelessly transmitting said periodic signals from said transmitter unit to said receiver unit, rejecting signals in said receiver unit that are not from said transmitter unit, producing display signals for transmission to a display means and displaying said person's heartbeat rate on said display means.

141. The method of claim 140, where said signals that are wirelessly transmitted to said receiver unit are heartbeat rate signals.

142. The method of claim141, including the further step, of detecting errors in said signals received in said receiver unit.

143. The method of claim 142, including the further step of compensating for said errors.

144. A heartbeat rate monitor, comprising:
a sensor for detecting a person's heartbeat signals, circuitry connected to said sensor for using said heartbeat signals to form a sequence of pulses related to said person's heartbeats, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said sequence of pulses from said transmitter to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said sequence of pulses, means for detecting an error in said received sequence of pulses, means for compensating for said error, a calculation circuit in said receiver for calculating said person's heartbeat rate from said received sequence pulses, and a display for displaying said person's heartbeat rate.

145. The monitor of claim 144, where said means for compensating includes rejection means for rejecting said received pulses if an error is detected.

146. The monitor of claim 145, where said sequence of pulses includes identification pulses for identification of a transmitter-receiver pair.

147. The monitor of claim 146, where said rejection means includes means for using said identification pulses to determine if said sequence of pulses is from said transmitter.

148. The monitor of claim 144, where said display is located on a piece of exercise equipment.

149. A heartbeat raise monitor, comprising:
a sensor for sensing a person's heartbeat signals and for producing output signals related to said heartbeats, a circuit connected to said sensor for using said sensor output signals to produce pulses representing said heartbeats, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting said pulses to a receiver, a receiver for receiving said wirelessly transmitted pulses, a circuit for producing identification pulses associated with said transmitter and receiver, said identification pulses being wirelessly transmitted by said transmitter to said receiver, an identification circuit in said receiver for using said identification pulses to determine if said pulses representing heartbeats are from said transmitter, a rejection circuit in said receiver for rejecting said pulses representing heartbeats if said pulses are not from said transmitter, a calculation circuit in said receiver for calculating the person's heartbeat rate if said pulses representing heartbeats are from said transmitter, and correction means for changing said transmitter and said receiver if interference impedes accurate wireless transmission between said transmitter and said receiver.

150. The monitor of claim 149, further including a display for displaying the person's heartbeat rate.

151. The monitor of claim 150,where said display is located on exercise equipment.

152. The monitor of claim 149,where said identification pulse s are wirelessly transmitted with each transmission of said pulses representing heartbeats.

153. The monitor of claim 152, further including a battery for powering said monitor.

154. A method for monitoring the heartbeat rate of a person, comprising the steps of using a sensor to detect heartbeat signals of a person, producing pulses representing heartbeats of said person, wirelessly transmitting said pulses from a transmitter to a receiver, determining if said pulses received in said receiver are from said transmitter, rejecting said pulses if said pulses are not from said transmitter, calculating the heartbeat rate of said person in said receiver if said pulses are from said transmitter, detecting errors due to interference during wireless transmission between said transmitter and said receiver, and changing said transmitter and said receiver to eliminate said errors in future wireless transmission of pulses representing heartbeats.

155. The method of claim 154, where said step of changing said transmitter and said receiver can be initiated by said person.

156. The method of claim 155, including the further step of displaying the calculated heartbeat rate.