How ECG Machines Performed
The ECG is the most commonly performed cardiac test. This is because the ECG is a useful screening tool for a variety of cardiac abnormalities; ECG machines are readily available in most medical facilities; and the test is simple to perform, risk-free and inexpensive.
How is the ECG performed?
You will lie on an examination table, and 10 electrodes (or leads) are attached to your arms, legs, and chest. The electrodes detect the electrical impulses generated by your heart, and transmit them to the ECG machine. The ECG machine produces a graph (the ECG tracing) of those cardiac electrical impulses. The electrodes are then removed. The test takes less than 5 minutes to perform.
What are the limitations of the ECG?
The ECG reveals the heart rate and rhythm only during the time that the ECG is taken. If intermittent cardiac rhythm abnormalities are present, the ECG is likely to miss them. Ambulatory monitoring is needed to record transient arrhythmias.
The ECG can often be normal or nearly normal in patients with undiagnosed coronary artery disease or other forms of heart disease (false negative results.)
Many "abnormalities" that appear on the ECG turn out to have no medical significance after a thorough evaluation is done (false positive results).
How is the ECG performed?
You will lie on an examination table, and 10 electrodes (or leads) are attached to your arms, legs, and chest. The electrodes detect the electrical impulses generated by your heart, and transmit them to the ECG machine. The ECG machine produces a graph (the ECG tracing) of those cardiac electrical impulses. The electrodes are then removed. The test takes less than 5 minutes to perform.
What are the limitations of the ECG?
The ECG reveals the heart rate and rhythm only during the time that the ECG is taken. If intermittent cardiac rhythm abnormalities are present, the ECG is likely to miss them. Ambulatory monitoring is needed to record transient arrhythmias.
The ECG can often be normal or nearly normal in patients with undiagnosed coronary artery disease or other forms of heart disease (false negative results.)
Many "abnormalities" that appear on the ECG turn out to have no medical significance after a thorough evaluation is done (false positive results).