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A Concise History of the ECG: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:einthoven.jpg|thumb|Willem Einthoven]] | [[Image:einthoven.jpg|thumb|Willem Einthoven]] | ||
[[Image:Einthoven_ECG.jpg|thumb|An electrocardiograph as used by Einthoven]] | [[Image:Einthoven_ECG.jpg|thumb|An electrocardiograph as used by Einthoven]] | ||
'''1895''' Einthoven, using an improved electrometer and a correction formula developed independently of Burch, distinguishes five deflections which he names P, Q, R, S and T. Einthoven | '''1895''' Einthoven, using an improved electrometer and a correction formula developed independently of Burch, distinguishes five deflections which he names P, Q, R, S and T. <cite>Einthoven</cite> | ||
Why PQRST and not ABCDE? The four deflections prior to the correction formula were labelled ABCD and the 5 derived deflections were labelled PQRST. The choice of P is a mathematical convention (as used also by Du Bois-Reymond in his galvanometer's 'disturbance curve' 50 years previously) by using letters from the second half of the alphabet. N has other meanings in mathematics and O is used for the origin of the Cartesian coordinates. In fact Einthoven used O ..... X to mark the timeline on his diagrams. P is simply the next letter. A lot of work had been undertaken to reveal the true electrical waveform of the ECG by eliminating the damping effect of the moving parts in the amplifiers and using correction formulae. If you look at the diagram in Einthoven's 1895 paper you will see how close it is to the string galvanometer recordings and the electrocardiograms we see today. The image of the PQRST diagram may have been striking enough to have been adopted by the researchers as a true representation of the underlying form. It would have then been logical to continue the same naming convention when the more advanced string galvanometer started creating electrocardiograms a few years later. | Why PQRST and not ABCDE? The four deflections prior to the correction formula were labelled ABCD and the 5 derived deflections were labelled PQRST. The choice of P is a mathematical convention (as used also by Du Bois-Reymond in his galvanometer's 'disturbance curve' 50 years previously) by using letters from the second half of the alphabet. N has other meanings in mathematics and O is used for the origin of the Cartesian coordinates. In fact Einthoven used O ..... X to mark the timeline on his diagrams. P is simply the next letter. A lot of work had been undertaken to reveal the true electrical waveform of the ECG by eliminating the damping effect of the moving parts in the amplifiers and using correction formulae. If you look at the diagram in Einthoven's 1895 paper you will see how close it is to the string galvanometer recordings and the electrocardiograms we see today. The image of the PQRST diagram may have been striking enough to have been adopted by the researchers as a true representation of the underlying form. It would have then been logical to continue the same naming convention when the more advanced string galvanometer started creating electrocardiograms a few years later. | ||
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'''2005''' Danish cardiologists report the successful reduction in the time between onset of chest pain and primary angioplasty when the ECG of patients is transmitted wirelessly from ambulance to the cardiologist's handheld PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The clinician can make an immediate decision to redirect patients to the catheter lab saving time in transfers between hospital departments. <cite>Clemmensen</cite> | '''2005''' Danish cardiologists report the successful reduction in the time between onset of chest pain and primary angioplasty when the ECG of patients is transmitted wirelessly from ambulance to the cardiologist's handheld PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The clinician can make an immediate decision to redirect patients to the catheter lab saving time in transfers between hospital departments. <cite>Clemmensen</cite> | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
*[http://www.ecglibrary.com/ecghist.html ECG history on ECGlibrary.com] | *[http://www.ecglibrary.com/ecghist.html ECG history on ECGlibrary.com] | ||