ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY: HOW DOES AN ECG WORK?
The heart's electrical activity is measured by the help of a test referred to as the electrocardiogram, or ECG as it is commonly called. This simple bedside test is easily performed in the doctor's office using an ECG machine. An ECG helps the doctor determine the health of the heart. It assesses heart damage and disease and gives valuable information whether your heart is normal, under strain, about past heart attacks and current events going on in the heart. It also indicates whether the heart's rhythm is normal or abnormal. An ECG forms an integral part of the examination by a cardiologist. Everyone above the age of 40 should have an ECG at least once in 2 years.
HOW DOES AN ECG WORK?
Your heart's continuous beating is controlled by a natural pacemaker called the S-A node. The electrical impulse generated in the S-A node is then carried by a network of 'wires' within the heart, which stimulate the various parts of the heart to contract in a given sequence and in a synchronous manner. This causes the heart to contract in an orderly manner with the atria contracting first followed by the ventricles. These minute electrical signals which are generated and distributed in the heart can be detected by the electrocardiograph, which then magnifies them and records them on special ECG paper. This recording is called an electrocardiogram.
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Cardio & Blood | 
