Through our partnership with MediShare Diagnostic Cardiology Services from Kitchener, Ontario, we are able to provide on-site, non-invasive cardiac testing. Results are interpreted by qualified medical specialists are returned to our clinic in several days. Patients don’t need to travel out of town, pay expensive parking, or wait for weeks for the test to occur.
Holter Monitor
A Holter monitor is a battery-operated portable device that measures and records your heart’s activity (ECG) continuously for 24, 48 or 72 hours or longer depending on the type of monitoring used. The device is the size of a small cell phone. It has wires with silver dollar-sized electrodes that attach to your skin.
It is used to detect heart rhythm abnormalities that may not be evident in a routine ECG. Patients with palpitations, fainting or near-fainting, chest pain, and other conditions may need this test.
It can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of treatment, and overall condition of patients with chronic heart rhythm abnormalities like atrial fibrillation.
Echocardiography
An echocardiogram (echo) is a test that uses high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to make pictures of your heart. The test is also called echocardiography or diagnostic cardiac ultrasound.
An echo uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart’s chambers, valves, walls and the blood vessels (aorta, arteries, veins) attached to your heart.
A probe called a transducer is passed over your chest. The probe produces sound waves that bounce off your heart and “echo” back to the probe. These waves are changed into pictures viewed on a video monitor.
This test can be used to diagnose people with heart murmurs (extra sounds coming from the heart) or to monitor patients with congestive heart failure.