- Holter monitor
- A type of portable heart monitor. The Holter monitor is a small portable electrocardiogram (ECG) device worn in a pouch around the neck or waist. It keeps a record of the heart rhythm, typically over a 24-hour period, while the patient keeps a diary recording their activities and any symptoms they may feel. The ECG recording is then correlated with the person's record of their activities and symptoms. It is useful for identifying disturbances which are sporadic and are not readily identified with the usual resting electrocardiogram test. The monitor is named after Norman Holter (1914-83), an American biophysicist.
* * *
Hol·ter monitor 'hōl-tər- n a portable device that makes a continuous record of electrical activity of the heart and that can be worn by an ambulatory patient during the course of daily activities in order to detect fleeting episodes of abnormal heart rhythmsHolter Norman Jefferis (1914-1983)American biophysicist. Holter made his first notable contribution during World War II, when, as senior physicist for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships, he conducted important research on the behavior of ocean waves. After the war he and his staff of oceanographic engineers measured wave action and underwater disturbances caused by the atomic testing at the South Pacific atoll of Bikini. During 1952 he recorded for the Atomic Energy Commission the fallout caused by the atmospheric testing of the hydrogen bomb. His later researches ranged from seismography to vitamin C. In medicine he was notable for his work on electrocardiography and his invention of a portable apparatus for monitoring heart activity. Originally known as an ambulatory electrocardiograph, the device is now associated with his name.* * *
Hol·ter monitor (hōlґtər) [Norman Jefferis Holter, American biophysicist, 1914–1983] see under monitor.
Medical dictionary. 2011.