BANGOR – Active Corp. of Castine, producer of a pocket-sized cardiac monitor that connects to a Palm OS device, has received two national awards from Palm Inc., including its top honor for best overall software application.

This is the first year Palm has recognized companies that have developed products that can be used in their hand-held devices. More than 175,000 developers worldwide are working on applications for the pocket-sized operating system, according to a statement from Palm.

Of the four “Powered Up” awards handed out by Palm, Active Corp. has earned two of them for its ActiveECG cardiac monitor, the first FDA-approved product for the Palm devices. It received Palm’s top prize of best overall solution award, and its best enterprise solution award.

With the ActiveECG (Electro-CardioGram), a person with a history of heart problems can monitor and record his heart rhythms, and e-mail them or show them to a cardiologist.

Developers Jeffrey and Karen Siegel, who founded Active Corp. in Castine, are emergency medical technicians used to relying on a bulkier 19-pound ECG device when helping patients. They wanted to come up with something more lightweight and something people in nursing homes, on ambulances, and at hospitals could use, Jeffrey Siegel said Monday.

The device, which costs up to $500, excluding the cost of the Palm OS, allows patients in serious emergency situations to be monitored in the field by medical professionals, Jeffrey Siegel said. It also lets patients requiring routine cardiac monitoring test themselves at home.

When the product was developed, the Siegels never anticipated the home-health care use. Now there’s “millions of people” looking into making cardiac monitoring part of their routine at home, Jeffrey Siegel said.

“People are so aware of their health care today,” he said.

For more information on ActiveECG, visit the Web site at www.activecenter.com/products.html.