Ergometry
The ergometry is used to detect coronary artery diseases. Our heart beats about 60 times a minute and has to contract and then expand again. It is only supplied with blood and thus oxygen during the expansion, since the internal supply vessels themselves are squeezed off during the phase of contraction.
The blood flow to the inner layers of our heart muscle is now restricted in the case of calcifications, since less blood can flow through the corresponding vessels due to the calcifications.
This may not bother the patient when he isn’t doing an effort. We remember: At rest, the heart beats about 60 times a minute. But when we exert ourselves, the pulse also rises in accordance with the exertion and, of course, the time it takes for the heart muscle to recover after each beat also decreases. This also reduces the time for the oxygen supply.
During a stress ECG, we want to provoke exactly this condition to see whether there is a reduction in blood flow to the heart. This results in changes in the EKG, which we can then record.