What are cardiac monitors? Cardiology Basics

What are cardiac monitors? Cardiology Basics Cardiac monitors are devices with displays to show ECG, heart rate and other parameters on a continuous basis, usually used in the intensive care unit, emergency department, ambulances or operation theatre. Earlier cardiac monitors had just ECG and heart rate displays. Current multi parameter monitors have invasive and non-invasive blood pressure, respiration, pulse oximetry, pacemaker sensing and various other monitoring possibilities. It can give out alarms if heart rate or any other parameter is beyond the set limits. Alarms should be taken considering the current physiological state of the person. Someone with continuous tachycardia due to illness will need a higher upper rate cut-off to avoid frequent alarms. Sometimes the number of alarms is so many that ICU staff may develop “alarm fatigue” and stop responding to alarms. Hence alarm limits should be set appropriately, and monitoring should be done only when essential. Several of the alarms are triggered by poor signals on the ECG channel. This can be avoided by checking the 12 lead ECG and choosing monitor leads with best QRS voltages. Poor electrode contact is another reason, which can be avoided by cleaning the contacts and changing the disposable patches once a day or if damaged. ICU central monitors are now commonplace in most intensive care units. They are connected to bedside monitors either by wired circuits or wireless links. They can display from a selection of ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs