INTRODUCTION OF ECHO

The patient lies on a table and a technician places small metal disks (electrodes) on their chest. The disks have wires that hook to an electrocardiograph machine. An  electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) keeps track of the heartbeat during the test. The room better be  dark so the technician can see the video monitor properly. Then the technician will put gel on the patient chest to help sound waves pass through the skin. Moreover, the technician may ask to move or hold the patient’s breath briefly to get better pictures.
The probe (transducer) is passed across the patient’s chest. The probe produces sound waves that bounce off the heart and “echo” back to the probe. The sound waves are change into pictures and displayed on a video monitor. The pictures on the video monitor are recorded so the doctor can look at them later.