What is an electrocardiograph?

The electrocardiograph is an electronic device that captures and amplifies the electrical activity of the heart through electrodes. The recording is called an electrocardiogram and is defined as the heart’s continuous recording of electrical impulses. They are essential medical equipment in the development of the provision of health services and, therefore, an essential element in medical centers of different kinds. His work is essential in the diagnosis of heart diseases, arrhythmias and any type of abnormality in the heart or its chambers.

Its operation consists of recording the electrical activity of the heart. The result of this analysis is a document that records data called an electrocardiogram (ECG).

How does this equipment work and what is it used for?

As we have just mentioned, the operation of the electrocardiograph, as a clinical diagnostic equipment, is based on the installation of a series of electrodes on the surface of the patient’s skin at the level of the thoracic region and extremities. These electrodes make it possible to capture the electrical signal generated by the activity of the patient’s heart.

An electrocardiograph is used to measure any damage to the heart, whether there are abnormal heart palpitations, the size and position of the heart’s chambers, and the effects of drugs or devices used to monitor the heart (such as pacemakers). Today there are multiple types of electrocardiographs, the simplest draw the tracing on a specific recording paper tape for ECG and the most modern and complex perform an analysis of what they record and store it in digital format. There are 3,6 and 12 channels.

What is its history?

The electrocardiograph was first described by the Dutch physician Willem Einthoven in 1903 who was subsequently named the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1924 for his decisive contributions to the development of the electrocardiograph and its clinical application.

Types of electrocardiographs

The classification of the various models of electrocardiographs is mainly based on the objective that the medical specialist wants to achieve.

  • Single-channel electrocardiograph: these machines are characterized by recording and printing the results of the electrical activity of the heart of a single lead per record, which means that health professionals must order the 12 leads manually to perform the analysis. However, the biggest advantage of this type of EKG machine is that it is extremely lightweight and quite simple to use.
  • Multichannel electrocardiograph: this type of device is characterized by having 3.6 or 12 channels and recording each of the 12 leads in a period of 2.5 seconds. Some models allow the possibility of choosing between different formats, and others have a display screen so that the user can visualize the analysis in real time before generating the impression, facilitating and improving the precision of the patient’s diagnosis.
  • Multichannel with printing: these models work the same as the multichannel, the only difference is that they have a computer with recognition patterns that identifies normal and abnormal ECG signals, offering a suggestion report that the user must verify, complete and study at depth to generate an accurate diagnosis for the patient.

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