| advertise add site services publishers database health videos | ![]() | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Equipment and Supplies Canada ECG machines resting ECG stress ECG... surgo.com |
"ECG" redirects here. For other uses, see ECG (disambiguation). Image showing a patient connected to the 10 electrodes necessary for a 12-lead ECG Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is a transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over time captured and externally recorded by skin electrodes.[1] It is a noninvasive recording produced by an electrocardiographic device. The etymology of the word is derived from electro, because it is related to electrical activity, cardio, Greek for heart, and graph, a Greek root meaning "to write". Electrical impulses in the heart originate in the sinoatrial node and travel through the intimate conducting system to the heart muscle. The impulses stimulate the myocardial muscle fibres to contract and thus induce systole. The electrical waves can be measured at electrodes placed at specific points on the skin. Electrodes on different sides of the heart measure the activity of different parts of the heart muscle. An ECG displays the voltage between pairs of these electrodes, and the muscle activity that they measure, from different directions, also understood as vectors. This display indicates the overall rhythm of the heart and weaknesses in different parts of the heart muscle. It is the best way to measure and diagnose abnormal rhythms of the heart,[2] particularly abnormal rhythms caused by damage to the conductive tissue that carries electrical signals, or abnormal rhythms caused by electrolyte imbalances.[3] In a myocardial infarction (MI), the ECG can identify if the heart muscle has been damaged in specific areas, though not all areas of the heart are covered.[4] The ECG cannot reliably measure the pumping ability of the heart, for which ultrasound-based (echocardiography) or nuclear medicine tests are used.
[edit] HistoryAlexander Muirhead is reported to have attached wires to a feverish patient's wrist to obtain a record of the patient's heartbeat while studying for his Doctor of Science (in electricity) in 1872 at St Bartholomew's Hospital.[5] This activity was directly recorded and visualized using a Lippmann capillary electrometer by the British physiologist John Burdon Sanderson.[6] The first to systematically approach the heart from an electrical point-of-view was Augustus Waller, working in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London.[7] His electrocardiograph machine consisted of a Lippmann capillary electrometer fixed to a projector. The trace from the heartbeat was projected onto a photographic plate which was itself fixed to a toy train. This allowed a heartbeat to be recorded in real time. In 1911 he still saw little clinical application for his work. An initial breakthrough came when Willem Einthoven, working in Leiden, The Netherlands, used the string galvanometer that he invented in 1903.[8] This device was much more sensitive than both the capillary electrometer that Waller used and the string galvanometer that had been invented separately in 1897 by the French engineer Clément Ader.[9] Einthoven assigned the letters P, Q, R, S and T to the various deflections, and described the electrocardiographic features of a number of cardiovascular disorders. In 1924, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery.[10] Though the basic principles of that era are still in use today, there have been many advances in electrocardiography over the years. The instrumentation, for example, has evolved from a cumbersome laboratory apparatus to compact electronic systems that often include computerized interpretation of the electrocardiogram.[11] [edit] ECG graph paperTimed interpretation of an ECG was once incumbent to a stylus and paper speed. Computational analysis now allows considerable study of heart rate variability. A typical electrocardiograph runs at a paper speed of 25 mm/s, although faster paper speeds are occasionally used. Each small block of ECG paper is 1 mm2. At a paper speed of 25 mm/s, one small block of ECG paper translates into 40 ms. Five small blocks make up one large block, which translates into 200 ms. Hence, there are five large blocks per second. A diagnostic quality 12 lead ECG is calibrated at 10 m/V, so 1 mm translates into 0.1 mV. A calibration signal should be included with every record. A standard signal of 1 V must move the stylus vertically 1 cm, that is two large squares on ECG paper. [edit] Filter selectionModern ECG monitors offer multiple filters for signal processing. The most common settings are monitor mode and diagnostic mode. In monitor mode, the low frequency filter (also called the high-pass filter because signals above the threshold are allowed to pass) is set at either 0.5 Hz or 1 Hz and the high frequency filter (also called the low-pass filter because signals below the threshold are allowed to pass) is set at 40 Hz. This limits artifact for routine cardiac rhythm monitoring. The high-pass filter helps reduce wandering baseline and the low-pass filter helps reduce 50 or 60 Hz power line noise (the power line network frequency differs between 50 and 60 Hz in different countries). In diagnostic mode, the high-pass filter is set at 0.05 Hz, which allows accurate ST segments to be recorded. The low-pass filter is set to 40, 100, or 150 Hz. Consequently, the monitor mode ECG display is more filtered than diagnostic mode, because its passband is narrower.[12] [edit] LeadsIn electrocardiography, the word lead may refer to either the electrodes attached to the patient, or, properly, (in which case, it is pronounced /lid/) to the voltage between two electrodes. The electrodes are attached to the patient's body, usually with very sticky circles of thick tape-like material (the electrode is embedded in the center of this circle), onto which cables clip.[13] ECG leads use different combinations of electrodes to produce various signals from the heart. [edit] Placement of electrodesTen electrodes are used for a 12-lead ECG. They are labeled and placed on the patient's body as follows:[14][15] Proper placement of the limb electrodes, color coded as recommended by the American Health Association. Note that the limb electrodes can be far down on the limbs or close to the hips/shoulders, but they must be even (left vs right).[16]
[edit] Limb leadsIn both the 5- and 12-lead configuration, leads I, II and III are called limb leads. The electrodes that form these signals are located on the limbs—one on each arm and one on the left leg.[17][18][19] The limb leads form the points of what is known as Einthoven's triangle.[20]
[edit] Unipolar vs. bipolar leadsThere are two types of leads: unipolar and bipolar. Bipolar leads have one positive and one negative pole.[21] In a 12-lead ECG, the limb leads (I, II and III) are bipolar leads. Unipolar leads also have two poles, as a voltage is measured; however, the negative pole is a composite pole (Wilson's central terminal) made up of signals from lots of other electrodes.[22] In a 12-lead ECG, all leads besides the limb leads are unipolar (aVR, aVL, aVF, V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, and V6). Wilson's central terminal is produced by connecting the limb leads (I, II, and III) together, via a simple resistive network, to give an average potential across the body, which approximates the potential at infinity (i.e., zero). [edit] Augmented limb leadsLeads aVR, aVL, and aVF are augmented limb leads. They are derived from the same three electrodes as leads I, II, and III. However, they view the heart from different angles (or vectors) because the negative electrode for these leads is a modification of Wilson's central terminal. This zeroes out the negative electrode and allows the positive electrode to become the "exploring electrode" or a unipolar lead. This is possible because Einthoven's Law states that I + (−II) + III = 0. The equation can also be written I + III = II. It is written this way (instead of I − II + III = 0) because Einthoven reversed the polarity of lead II in Einthoven's triangle, possibly because he liked to view upright QRS complexes. Wilson's central terminal paved the way for the development of the augmented limb leads aVR, aVL, aVF and the precordial leads V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, and V6.
The augmented limb leads aVR, aVL, and aVF are amplified in this way because the signal is too small to be useful when the negative electrode is Wilson's central terminal. Together with leads I, II, and III, augmented limb leads aVR, aVL, and aVF form the basis of the hexaxial reference system, which is used to calculate the heart's electrical axis in the frontal plane. [edit] Precordial leadsThe electrodes for the precordial leads (V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, and V6) are placed directly on the chest. Because of their close proximity to the heart, they do not require augmentation. Wilson's central terminal is used for the negative electrode, and these leads are considered to be unipolar (recall that Wilson's central terminal is the average of the three limb leads. This approximates common, or average, potential over the body). The precordial leads view the heart's electrical activity in the so-called horizontal plane. The heart's electrical axis in the horizontal plane is referred to as the Z axis. [edit] Waves and intervalsA typical ECG tracing of a normal heartbeat (or cardiac cycle) consists of a P wave, a QRS complex and a T wave.[23] A small U wave is normally visible in 50 to 75% of ECGs. The baseline voltage of the electrocardiogram is known as the isoelectric line. Typically the isoelectric line is measured as the portion of the tracing following the T wave and preceding the next P wave.
The four deflections were originally named ABCDE but renamed PQRST after correction for artifacts introduced by early amplifiers.[24] [edit] Pathophysiological indications of EKG
[edit] Clinical lead groupsMain article: Myocardial infarction There are twelve leads in total, each recording the electrical activity of the heart from a different perspective, which also correlate to different anatomical areas of the heart for the purpose of identifying acute coronary ischemia or injury. Two leads that look at the same anatomical area of the heart are said to be contiguous (see color coded chart).
In addition, any two precordial leads that are next to one another are considered to be contiguous. For example, even though V4 is an anterior lead and V5 is a lateral lead, they are contiguous because they are next to one another. Lead aVR offers no specific view of the left ventricle. Rather, it views the inside of the endocardial wall to the surface of the right atrium, from its perspective on the right shoulder. [edit] AxisThe heart's electrical axis refers to the general direction of the heart's depolarization wavefront (or mean electrical vector) in the frontal plane. It is usually oriented in a right shoulder to left leg direction, which corresponds to the left inferior quadrant of the hexaxial reference system, although −30° to +90° is considered to be normal.
In the setting of right bundle branch block, right or left axis deviation may indicate bifascicular block. [edit] Electrocardiogram heterogeneityElectrocardiogram (ECG) heterogeneity is a measurement of the amount of variance between one ECG waveform and the next. This heterogeneity can be measured by placing multiple ECG electrodes on the chest and by then computing the variance in waveform morphology across the signals obtained from these electrodes. Recent research suggests that ECG heterogeneity often precedes dangerous cardiac arrhythmias. [edit] BackgroundThere are over 350,000 cases of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the United States each year, and over twenty percent of these cases involve people with no outward signs of serious heart disease. For decades, researchers have been attempting to come up with methods of identifying electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns that reliably precede dangerous arrhythmias. As these methods are found, devices are being created that monitor the heart in order to detect the onset of dangerous rhythms and to correct them before they cause death. [edit] ResearchResearch being conducted[25] suggests that a crescendo in ECG heterogeneity, both in the R-wave and the T-wave, often signals the start of ventricular fibrillation. In patients with coronary artery disease, exercise increases T-wave heterogeneity, but this effect is not seen in normal patients. These results, when combined with other pieces of emerging evidence, suggest that R-wave and T-wave heterogeneity both have predictive value. [edit] Future applicationsIn the future, researchers hope to simplify the ECG to a larger encyclopedic audience. Technology now allows deployment of temporary and permanent cardiac electrodes in a plurality of anatomic positions capable of novel ECGs unimpeded by the skin or thoracic cage. ECGs can be as variable as fingerprints to a trained observer. Patterns may be appreciated and computational analysis may illuminate the process of heterogeneity detection and to augment the clinical evidence supporting the validity of ECG heterogeneity as a predictor of arrhythmia. The electrocardiogram is fundamentally an interpretative entity but allows interventional measures, see Interventional Cardiology. Someday soon, implantable devices may be programmed to measure and track heterogeneity. These devices could potentially help ward off arrhythmias by stimulating nerves such as the vagus nerve, by delivering drugs such as beta-blockers, and if necessary, by defibrillating the heart.[26] [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |