According to Steve Sakoman, chief technology officer for the Palm OS platform, "The Powered Up Awards recognize originality in the vast Palm OS developer community and honor developers of the best applications." Winner of the Best Enterprise Application award, as well as the Best Overall award was a solution called ActiveECG from Active Corporation at http://www.activecenter.com/products.html.

ActiveECG is a pocket-sized cardiac monitor that connects to a Palm OS handheld, as you can see in Figure A.

FIGURE A

ActiveECG is a pocket-sized cardiac monitor. Click picture for a larger image.

ActiveECG is used to record and display ECG (electrocardiogram, EKG) strips for the purpose of analyzing heart rhythms and performing a quick assessment of a patient's cardiac health. The ECG strips can be transferred to a Windows compatible PC where a report can be displayed and printed or forwarded to a physician or other medical professional. I recently had an opportunity to speak with Jeffrey Siegel, President of Active Corporation, to learn more about this fascinating product.

Size matters
Jeffrey and his wife Karen are licensed EMT's (Emergency Medical Technicians) who work on the all-volunteer ambulance squad that services their seaside village of Castine, Maine. In this line of work, they began to notice a disturbing trend. Most ambulances are equipped with a cardiac monitor, a large, 19-pound device that must be carried from the vehicle to the victim. As EMT's already have a lot to carry when attending to an emergency situation, this bulky device would often get left behind. They saw a definite need for a small, lighter, and more practical alternative.

Mobility, clearly, was key, and already being long-time users of Palm handhelds, they set out to design a device that could be easily coupled with this powerful yet portable computer. ActiveECG was the result. ActiveECG weighs a mere 6.7 ounces, meaning it can be easily carried or attached to a patient.

How it works
ActiveECG includes three software components. The ActiveECG Palm OS application runs on Palm OS version 2.0 or higher. This software displays real-time ECG data and lets you record ECG strips for later review or transfer. The ActiveECG conduit runs on a Windows PC under Palm Desktop Software version 3.0 including HotSync Manager version 3.0. This software transfers previously recorded strips to the PC during a standard HotSync operation. The ActiveECG Viewer application runs on a Windows PC under Windows 95, 98, NT, or Windows 2000. This software allows you to view, annotate, print, and archive strips on a PC.