Objective 25, 26, & 28: Physiology, Cardiac cycle, and ECG

Objective 25: Recall physiology of heart and blood vessels
Objective 26: Review the cardiac cycle as it relates to the electrical conducting system
Objective 28: Explain the meaning of an electrocardiogram and its diagnostic importance


Although the textbook gave some wonderful information about ECGs and the physiology of heart and blood vessels, it still was alot of information to wrap my head around. There were two diagrams from the textbook that helped me out with understanding the deflection waves of an ECG tracing (Chapter 17 page 595) and the summary of events during the cardiac cycle (Chapter 17 page 597). The textbook provided alot of detailed information of these two process, but all the information was making my head spin. So I started looking around on the internet and found two different videos that not only accurately summarized ECGs, cardiac cycle, and physiology but it provided animated diagrams. These animated diagrams, along with the information with the text book, allowed me to have a better understanding and I don't feel as lost. This first video is a little more simple and basically goes over the physiology of the heart and vessels and describes the meaning of an ECG.

The second video called Your Heart's Electrical Sysyem is a little more informative, and does a great job of explaining how the cardiac cycle relates to the electrical conducting system. I really wish that this video would have shown up on the site, but either way I was really glad that I came across it. An electrocardiogram is an important tool because it is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the heart. Without it, we wouldn't be able to find out heart problems we may have or problems with the heart's conduction system.