Microprocessor controlled ambulatory medical apparatus with hand held communication device

1. A method of delivering a medium to a patient employing a medical system having an ambulatory medical device (MD) for providing treatment to a body of a patient or to monitor a selected state of the patient's body, and a communication device (CD) for sending messages to or receiving messages from the MD, the method comprising:

containing a flowable medium in a reservoir of the MD; and

transferring at least a portion of the flowable medium from the reservoir to the patient with a pumping mechanism by:

programming the communication device with at least two quantities relating to drug delivery; and

configuring the medical device to simultaneously deliver a drug based on the combined amounts associated with the at least two quantities.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MD comprises at least one of (1) an implantable infusion pump for selectively dispensing a selected drug, (2) an implantable sensor for sensing a selected state of the body, and (3) an implantable electrode for selectively stimulating a portion of the body of the patient.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MD comprises at least one of (1) an implantable infusion pump for selectively dispensing insulin, and (2) an implantable sensor for sensing glucose level.

4. The method of claim 1 :

wherein the at least two quantities represent amounts of a medium to be delivered;

wherein the method includes adding the at least two quantities together; and

wherein said transferring includes delivering a net amount of drug that is equal to the sum of the at least two quantities.

5. The method of claim 1 :

wherein a first quantity of the at least two quantities comprises a basal rate at which the medium is continuously delivered;

wherein a second quantity of the at least two quantities comprises a bolus dose amount of the medium;

wherein a third quantity of the at least two quantities comprises a bolus dose time duration during which the bolus dose amount of the medium is administered;

wherein a bolus rate is set as the bolus dose amount divided by the bolus dose duration; and

wherein said transferring comprises delivering the medium at a rate equal to the sum of the basal rate and the bolus rate for a time equal to the bolus duration so as to cause a temporary increase in the rate at which the medium is delivered.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the MD includes a pump controlled by an MD processor to selectively stroke to transfer the flowable medium and wherein said transferring further comprises controlling the pump to provide a number of pump strokes to transfer the flowable medium at a rate that corresponds to the sum of the basal rate and the bolus rate for a time equal to the bolus duration so as to cause a temporary increase in the rate at which the flowable medium is transferred to the patient.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MD is configured to provide quantized amounts of flowable media to the body of the patient, the method further comprising adding fractional portions of the quantized amounts to an accumulator.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the accumulator comprises a memory device for holding values, the method further comprising storing a first value and a second value in the accumulator memory device, the first value representing whole portions of the quantized amounts of treatment and the second value representing fractional portions of the quantized amounts of treatment.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising transferring a quantized amount of media to the patient upon the amount in the accumulator equaling or exceeding the quantized amount, and decrementing the amount in the accumulator by the quantized amount upon transferring a quantized amount of media to the patient.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MD includes a pump controlled by an MD processor to selectively stroke to transfer the flowable medium and wherein the method further comprises controlling the pump to provide a number of pump strokes to cause a net volume of flowable medium to be transferred to the patient that is equal to the sum of the at least two quantities.

11. The method of claim 1 :

wherein a first quantity of the at least two quantities comprises a basal rate at which the flowable media is continuously transferred to the patient;

wherein a second quantity of the at least two quantities comprises a bolus dose volume of the flowable media;

wherein the MD includes a pump that is controlled to stroke to transfer the flowable medium to the patient; and

wherein transferring further comprises generating pump strokes at a maximum rate to transfer the bolus dose volume in addition to the volume transferred at the basal rate, so that the net amount of the flowable media transferred to the patient corresponds to the sum of the bolus dose volume and the volume transferred at the basal rate.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the pumping mechanism provides pump strokes to transfer the flowable medium and wherein transferring further comprises:

delivering to the patient a quantized amount of the flowable medium for each pump stroke of the pumping mechanism;

providing flowable medium to the patient in a series of discrete time intervals, wherein the amount of the flowable medium to be delivered in each time interval is represented as a number of whole pump strokes and a number of fractional pump strokes;

adding to an accumulator, upon each time interval, an amount of flowable medium to be delivered in the time interval;

generating any whole number of pump strokes indicated by the accumulator during each time interval; and

decrementing the accumulator by one pump stroke for each pump stroke that is generated.