What is an EKG /ECG Machine and How Does it Work?
EKG is brief for graph associate degreed is named each associate degree graph and an ECG, as abbreviations for the word graph (derived from the Greek electro for electrical, cardio for the heart, and graph for “to write”) and therefore the German word electrocardiogram. associate degree ECG machine interprets and records the electrical impulses of the center for diagnostic functions. it's not a kind of treatment for heart conditions, however, will facilitate doctors diagnose and confirm the right treatment for a specific heart disease by taking a more in-depth cross-check the center and its activity.
All About the Electrocardiogram
An ECG records the heart’s own electrical impulses to make associate degree cardiograph, a reading that helps physicians learn additional regarding the center. The procedure itself is named associate degree graph. Since the machine merely uses the heart’s natural electricity to record information, the procedure is totally noninvasive. The machine and therefore the procedure area unit each fairly straightforward, however, they need had immense implications for the sphere of medicine.
An electrocardiogram does the following:
• determines the speed and regularity of heartbeats
• measures the dimensions and positioning of the chambers
• evaluates broken and unhealthy tissue or alternative physical irregularities
• monitors any surgical repairs, pacemakers, or effects of medication wont to treat existing heart conditions
An ECG doesn't live the heart’s ability to pump blood.
An ECG isn't sometimes performed as a preventative life, and it's solely used to diagnose or rule out the presence of diseases, disorders, and alternative irregularities. However, ECG machines area unit usually found normally apply clinics, additionally to seeing regular use in ambulances, emergency rooms, hospitals, and medical centers.
EKG setups area unit fairly little in size and area unit thought of transportable. They contain a tiny low box that homes the machine, that is connected to a variety of electrodes. The impulses picked up by the electrodes area unit recorded in pairs, and every try is understood as a lead. The various machines area unit spoken as 3-lead, 5-lead, and 12-lead EKGs.
Each lead views the center from a distinct angle. three and 5-lead EKGs area unit thought of transportable, record restricted heart activity, associate degreed area unit primarily wont to monitor a patient’s heart throughout surgery or on the thanks to the hospital in an automobile. 12-lead machines cross-check the center from twelve totally different angles and supply the kind of readings necessary to diagnose and monitor patients with heart conditions of variable degrees.
In a 12-lead ECG, six electrodes area unit hooked up to the skin on the chest around the heart. Four additional electrodes area unit additional, one on every arm and leg. The 10 electrodes mix in twelve alternative ways to browse twelve totally different angles on the center. once the center depolarizes with every heartbeat, the electrodes sense the small electrical impulses on the skin that area unit created as a result. The impulses travel back to the machine wherever they're understood and written on a graph.
Each muscular tissue cell encompasses an electric charge at rest, however, moves nearer to a neutral charge with every beat, referred to as change. every try of electrodes records the changes in voltage created between the 2 once the center depolarizes with every beat. A healthy heart can print out associate degree orderly wave of progression with every heartbeat, whereas a heart with unhealthy or broken tissue can show sure irregularities within the heart’s rhythm, size, or position.
How ECG Helps Heart Patients and Doctors
An ECG is employed to record the heart’s activity in patients with the subsequent conditions or symptoms:
• Heart murmur – Sounds created by the center thanks to deficient blood flow. Heart murmurs area unit fairly common and infrequently thought of traditional, however, will typically indicate a blocked or narrowed valve, artery, or alternative passage.
• Arrhythmia – Irregular heartbeats caused by abnormal electrical activity, which may cause the center to beat too slowly, quickly, or on an irregular basis.
• Myocardial infarct – additionally referred to as a coronary failure, the center stops beating thanks to complete blockage of blood flow to the center, making enough gas deprivation to prevent the center.
• Seizures associate degreed syncope – Patients experiencing unexplained seizures or fainting could also be tested with an ECG to rule out any heart dysfunction because of the offender.
While associate degree graph cannot stop or heal any of the higher than conditions, it will provide doctors the flexibility to accurately diagnose each early and advanced heart conditions, frequently monitor the results of treatments, and build applicable changes/recommendations for medical aid, medicine, and surgery.