How is an exercise stress echocardiography done?
An exercise echo may be done in a clinic, a caregiver’s office, or in a hospital. • Electrodes (sticky patches) will be put on your chest. If you have hair on parts of your chest or back, it may be shaved to help the patches stick to your skin. The electrodes will be attached to wires that send the electrical activity of your heart to the electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor. • You will need to exercise using a stationary bicycle or a treadmill. A treadmill is a machine on which you can walk or jog in place. While you do the exercise, the activity of your heart is being watched on the ECG monitor. • Pictures of your heart while doing its work will be recorded using an echocardiogram. Echocardiography (ultrasound) makes use of high-frequency sound waves that gives your caregivers a moving picture of your heart. The sound waves are sent to the body with a special device called a transducer. The sound waves hit the heart, bounce off, and return to the transducer as echoes. The echoes are chang
