EKG for PC?

[wildvan]

does anyone know of an EKG recorder that can be used at home? I've seen a couple that work with a PC (computer) but haven't heard if they produce good strips or not. They are a little out of my price range also. Anyone know of a computer peripheral for recording strips that is affordable?

I get arrhythmic episodes and requests from my physician to see an EKG, but it is hard to get to a machine when I am having an episode, since they are so transient. I have had the dial-in type event recorders a couple of times but the last time I had one my insurance charged me $1200+ because the company was out of network :-( even though the unit was given to me and set up by my in-network specialist. Go figure.

[itdood]

I looked into the 2 you mentioned from amazon before.  I decided to stay away, waste of money.   The thumb leads are useless.  The forearm leads amount to only a single lead trace.  IMHO, that is probably not enough resolution to make a diagnostic-level trace.  Medical grade equipment designed to pick up diagnostic-level traces will have 12 leads.

You might want to try ebay.  I've heard of folks finding used medical-grade EKGs there for pretty cheap.  You might be able to pickup a 12 lead for pretty cheap.

diagnosing afluter versus afib on a medical grade 12 lead EKG is hard enough, I really doubt a mickey-mouse EKG can pull it off.  There was a nurse on one of the reviews who mentioned even the forearm leads were not picking up PVCs.  Holy crap, a PVC will make for the most bizarre QRS wave you will ever see, if it can't pick that up there's no way it will pick up the minutia of a saw tooth pattern of afib or aflutter.

[wildvan]

Jerry_NJs comment above got me searching a bit more. There are several personal EKG units on the market that will create printable strips on a PC. They can be bought on Amazon.
The ReadMyHeart and Instant Check by DailyCare got reasonable reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Readmyheart-Personal-Handheld-illustrator-Electrodes/dp/B0010AN63W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1262107424&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Handheld-Real-Monitor-InstantCheck/dp/B001FAJP2I/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1262107424&sr=8-9

Here is a review of these units from 2008 (there are lots of good links in this paper):
http://www.cardiacdirect.com/brochures/ECGMachineComparison.pdf

Anyone know if these personal "low cost" machines will work for monitoring/diagnosing A flutter and A fib?

[Jerry_NJ]

Ouch on the charges for the monitor.  That seems to be the device best for catching a record (strip) of you problem.

I know the long term monitor can be expensive, I wore a Cardionet (Registered Trade Mark, I think) and it was covered by my insurance.  Still it cost me over $250 out-of-pocket.  Clearly you need to be sure the device supplier/service is in-network - I think it can be done.

To your question, I think I have seen some discussion on DIY EKG... have you done a MedHelp and Web search?