Luke White – C14367136
Introduction
In this report I will discuss valvular heart disease. Firstly I will discuss the disease itself, what it is, what its symptoms are and what effect it can have on a person if it is left untreated. Then I will examine the role of the Clinical Measurement Scientist in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of this disease. I will then go on to write about the importance of professionalism as a clinical measurement scientist. This will include how a Clinical Measurement Scientist should behave towards a patient to make diagnosing them as comfortable as possible. After that I will discuss the various equipment used to diagnose patients and the tests that are carried out using them. This …show more content…
This is a simple, painless test that records the heart's electrical activity. With each heartbeat, an electrical signal spreads from the top of the heart to the bottom. As it travels, the signal causes the heart to contract and pump blood. The process repeats with each new heartbeat. The ECG measures this and can be used to show how fast the patients hear is beating, whether the rhythm of the heartbeat is irregular or normal and the strength and timing of electrical signals as they pass through each part of the patients heart. During the stress test ten electrodes are placed on patients chest. These electrodes are attached to an electrocardiograph monitor that charts the patient’s heart electrical activity. The results of this test can detect various heart conditions, which includes valvular heart disease. Another carried out on patients is a stress test. A stress test determines the amount of stress your heart can manage before it develops either evidence of ischemia (not enough blood flow to the heart muscle) or an abnormal rhythm. The exercise stress test is the most common stress test. A stress provides information about how the heart responds to exertion and will usually involve pedaling a stationary bike or walking on a treadmill at increasing levels of difficulty while the heart rate, electrocardiogram and blood pressure of the patient are being monitored. The stress test will determine if there is adequate blood flow to the patients heart during increasing levels of activity, determine the effectiveness of heart medications, check the effectiveness of procedures done to improve blood flow within the heart vessels, identify abnormal heart rhythms and assess the function of the heart valves if they are not functioning properly. There are also various different types of stress test that patients can undergo. These include the exercise stress test, which is usually the first to be