EKG TESTING

Question 1

electrocardiogram (EKG)

Answer 1

a visual picture of the electrical activity of the heart created by placing electrodes on the body.

Question 2

depolarization

Answer 2

occurs when the heart muscle contracts.

Question 3

repolarization

Answer 3

occurs when the heart muscle relaxes

Question 4

stylus

Answer 4

the heated instrument on the EKG machine that burns the recording into the heat-sensitive paper

Question 5

electrodes

Answer 5

devices attached to the arms, legs, and chest that sense electrical impulses.

Question 6

leads

Answer 6

the wires that transmit the signals for the EKG recording from the various electrode locations on the arms, legs, and chest.

Question 7

standard

Answer 7

the mark that appears at the beginning or end of an EKG tracing that is a universal signal of the speed and sensitivity of the tracing.

Question 8

unipolar

Answer 8

electrical conduction that comes from one specific location and travels in only one direction

Question 9

bipolar

Answer 9

electrical conduction that occurs between two poles and travels in both directions between the poles

Question 10

augmented

Answer 10

enhanced

Question 11

artifacts

Answer 11

unwanted disturbances that can interfere with accurate interpretation of an EKG tracing

Question 12

somatic tremor

Answer 12

body movements that cause an EKG tracing artifact; such as shivering, coughing, sneezing, talking, and moving

Question 13

alternating current (AC) interference

Answer 13

caused by improper grounding or by a machine that is not equipped to filter out extraneous electrical currents

Question 14

wandering baseline

Answer 14

also known as a baseline drift; in this artifact the baseline wanders up and down on the EKG paper, interfering with accurate recording.

Question 15

interrupted baseline

Answer 15

a related artifact that may be seen as a sharp break in the tracing