Holter Monitor

I have no idea what happened to the picture I took

This is a typical Holter monitor unit for use outside a clinic.  Information is stored on a flash card and is analyzed when you return to the clinic.  You will typically wear it for a period of 24 hours.  While you are wearing the device, you cannot take a shower, but you can take a birdbath if you desire.  You may be requested to keep a small log to record when you do activities that cause your heart rate to fluctuate like walking up several flights of stairs, having a bowel movement or sleeping.  Make sure that you do not apply lotion to your chest on the day you have it installed.  It may cause the patches to fall off during the recording period which may jeopardize your chance of getting into the study.  If a lead falls off, just snap it back on and record what time it happened. 

Some studies may have a "live" monitoring system called "telemetry" monitors.  Whereas the Holter monitor records to a memory card, telemetry is live and a paramedic is watching your results at all times during the recording process which is usually 4 to 8 hours but may can up to 24 hours or longer.