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Slide 1: How does ECG Machine work? Otherwise known as an electrocardiograph, the ECG machine has today rubber stamped its place in the hospitals. Doctors and nurses are greatly depending on the machine to take adequate care of their patients and you can be sure the machine is not going anywhere anytime soon. The ECG machine has actually made hospital operations to be much more efficient as it monitors the patients and gives useful information to doctors which they can use to treat the patient. From its name; electrocardiograph, we gather that the machine relays information in the form of graphs which doctors have to learn to interpret. Basically, what the machine does is to interpret the constant electrical signals that the heart produces. It is able to capture these signals via the electrodes which are part of the machine and are usually attached to the skin. They are commonly seen whenever a movie scene regarding a hospital is done or you can even view them physically in the hospitals. The ordinary person might find it difficult to understand how some cords attached to the human body are able to reflect information on a machine. Think of the body as a big sac of salty water. That being the case, it can easily conduct electricity and that is how the heart pulses are detected by the machine. We all know that the human heart has four chambers. The human body also has its own natural electric current which causes the muscles of the heart to contract and thus be able to pump blood through the four heart chambers and to the other body organs. In order to get any readings, the machine’s electrodes have to be attached to selected parts of the torso but it has to be on the skin surface. The hospital attendants will usually place small pads between the skin and the electrodes. This helps to improve the electrical conductivity. Cases of discomfort caused by the electrodes had been foreseen and the pads were designed to help avoid any discomfort. The sensitivity of the electrodes is quite high and that is how they detect even the faintest heart pulses. Like any machine the ECG machine also has measurements and it relays its results in mill volts. The machine is very ideal as apart from relaying the readings on the screen, the information can be printed out and the doctor can use this to explain the progress of the patient to the family or the hospital management for analysis.