The human heart keeps us alive, and it can be serious when it malfunctions.   At 92, Ruth Eisel is still quite a firecracker, but a few years back, she was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.  She initially had a pacemaker implanted in her chest, and more recently a defibrillator.  And Ruth's doctors can monitor her condition over the phone.  "It works great. It keeps me from going to the doctor's office all the time.  When the machine is on I put this magnet and hold it there until it's done recording.  This records it and it comes out in the doctor's office."

The defibrillator not only monitors Ruth's heart function, and it can also deliver electrical shocks, to properly pace the heart if it's needed. "Twice a year, they want me in the office for a check there.  The rest of the time it's done at home and believe me it's a time saver, it really is."

Kay Doverspike says "It's telling us about battery voltages, impedances on the wires, if they've had some kind of therapy from the device. How much it's been pacing, if it's not."

Kay also says that there's some new technology that's making at home monitoring of your heart even easier.  "It's a radio frequency connection to the box sitting beside their bed."

The new system is just beginning to be more widely used, as Medicare and insurance carriers are starting to cover the cost.

Cardiac arrhythmias are quite common - affecting as many as 2.2 million Americans.