Ekg Measurement and Interpretation at Rest and During Exercise
EKG Measurement and Interpretation at Rest and During Exercise
Jonathan Murdock
March 5, 2013
March 19, 2013
(KIN 375)
Purpose:
In the United States, people suffer from heart problems every day. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year about 935,000 people in the United States suffer from a heart attack and about 600,000 die from heart problems. Electrocardiograms (EKG or ECG) provide important information concerning the electrical activity of the heart as well as the quantity and quality of heart contractions. An EKG, along with blood work to measure troponin levels, can definitively determine whether or not a person has suffered from a myocardial infarction. In order to obtain an EKG, electrodes are strategically placed on the limbs and torso of a subject to measure the electrical current that is generated in the heart and transferred to the skin. The electrical signal is first generated in the sinoatrial node (SA node). It then travels to both the left and right atria to cause them to contract. Then, the signal goes to the atrioventricular node (AV node) where it is briefly delayed to allow all of the blood from the atria to move into the ventricles. It then moves through the Bundle of His toward the apex of the heart and then through the Purkinje fibers. This causes contraction of the ventricles to pump blood throughout the body and lungs. The purpose of this lab was to compare EKG at rest with and exercising EKG. In doing so, the subject’s heart health could be determined based on the results of being put under the stress of exercise versus when resting.
Methods:
Subject: The subject participating in this lab was a college aged (18-25 years) male enrolled in KIN 375. The participant was healthy, exercised regularly, and did not report any history of heart problems. Equipment: The equipment used in this lab included alcohol prep wipes, 10 electrodes and wires, a computer to read the EKG with
Jonathan Murdock
March 5, 2013
March 19, 2013
(KIN 375)
Purpose:
In the United States, people suffer from heart problems every day. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year about 935,000 people in the United States suffer from a heart attack and about 600,000 die from heart problems. Electrocardiograms (EKG or ECG) provide important information concerning the electrical activity of the heart as well as the quantity and quality of heart contractions. An EKG, along with blood work to measure troponin levels, can definitively determine whether or not a person has suffered from a myocardial infarction. In order to obtain an EKG, electrodes are strategically placed on the limbs and torso of a subject to measure the electrical current that is generated in the heart and transferred to the skin. The electrical signal is first generated in the sinoatrial node (SA node). It then travels to both the left and right atria to cause them to contract. Then, the signal goes to the atrioventricular node (AV node) where it is briefly delayed to allow all of the blood from the atria to move into the ventricles. It then moves through the Bundle of His toward the apex of the heart and then through the Purkinje fibers. This causes contraction of the ventricles to pump blood throughout the body and lungs. The purpose of this lab was to compare EKG at rest with and exercising EKG. In doing so, the subject’s heart health could be determined based on the results of being put under the stress of exercise versus when resting.
Methods:
Subject: The subject participating in this lab was a college aged (18-25 years) male enrolled in KIN 375. The participant was healthy, exercised regularly, and did not report any history of heart problems. Equipment: The equipment used in this lab included alcohol prep wipes, 10 electrodes and wires, a computer to read the EKG with