Circulatory System

        
   
 

 

  

Defibrillator

ECG Unit

Heart Pump

Hermatology Analyzer

Pulse Oximeter

Sphygmananometer

MRI

 

Purpose: Used in the investigation of certain heart diseases

Usage: Electrodes are attached to various locations on the patient’s limbs and torso. The electrodes detect minute electrical impulses produced by the heart. The information is transmitted to an ECG machine, which produces a graph of those impulses.

Portable: Usually portable

Parts of Machine:

  • Electrodes – they detect the electrical impulses generated by the heart
  • Processor – processes the input of electrical impulses
  • Printer – prints out a graph of impulse strength against time
 
   
   

Basically, the electrodes detect small electrical impulses produced by the heart.

The impulses are fed to the ECG/EKG machine, which processes the electrical signals and feeds the information to an on-board printer, which then prints out a graph of impulse strength against time.

Some expensive models have an on-board analyzer that analyzes the signals and determines the patient’s condition.

Sample printout. The patient has acute anterior myocardial infarction (heart attack)

  • Usually relatively small and portable
  • Results can be obtained in just a few minutes
  • The printout reveals many useful details about the patient’s heart condition and signals the presence of potentially life-threatening heart diseases

  • A trained specialist is needed to interpret the graph accurately and determine the patient’s condition correctly, for the majority of ECG machines

   
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