Error in EKG page in worksheet

Thread Starter

samuel.whiskers

Joined Mar 17, 2014
95
On this page -
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/worksheets/scope1.html

The vertical axis of an EKG is reported to reflect 'heart muscle contraction'. Not really correct - the EKG can only be a measure of electrical activity in the heart - so the vertical axis is always a measure of a potential difference (mV) caused by the movement of ions in the heart muscle.
This may not reflect heart muscle contraction - not all 'beats' in an EKG will cause the heart muscle to contract, and in a type of cardiac arrest called pulseless electrical activity, the EKG reports a (relatively) normal trace and the heart isn't beating at all.

Maybe just semantics....

Lee
 
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