- According to the American Heart Association, each beat of the heart creates an electrical impulse that triggers muscle contraction and the pumping of blood. An EKG, also called an ECG, measures the timing of these impulses in order to test the heart's function.
- In a standard EKG, 12 measuring electrodes are temporarily attached to the chest, arms and legs. When these electrodes are connected to an EKG machine, they are called electrode leads.
- Different electrode leads conduct positive or negative charges. During testing, the EKG machine reads and records the electrical differences between these leads and creates a detailed picture of the heart's activity.
- A standard EKG measures only a few seconds of heart activity. Longer stretches of activity can be measured with a portable recording device called a Holter monitor.
- Certain heart problems only appear during heightened physical activity. These can be measured with an EKG taken during a stress test.
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