A heart monitor for next to nothing!

Watch out if it tells you to flat-line!

Mike (who's had a pacemaker for several months now).

I doubt a serious belt will damage the heart per se. It might send it into atrial fibrillation but no lasting damage.

Perhaps you should invest in a defibrillator that can zap you after detecting arrhythmia?

Well, they used Analog Devices' awesome ad8232 ECG-monitor, with specialized input signal conditioning. No ADC though.

For five bucks, I'm not going to be picky!

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This raises the question, what's a good ADC to use with the AD8232?

Thank you, 73,

If you are still concious 10 seconds after getting a jolt, then there's no damage (to your heart). Are you trained to interpret an EKG waveform?

Jon

Unfortunately, that's not true. There are many cases on record of electricians who copped a high voltage shock, picked themselves up and went outside for a cigarette to calm down, then collapsed and died before being able to finish their smoke. Ten *minutes* perhaps. PERHAPS. But certainly not 10s.

I don't need to be. I'd simply compare the waveform with my 'reference trace' made beforehand.

I had much the same idea using one of these: This one of the older models supplied with dismal software for downloading waveforms. I suggest buying a more recent model that should include less dismal software.

Invariably, when I email the waveforms to my cardiologist, he says to visit the emergency room or "urgent care" and ask them in person. He also mentioned that if my hands are shaking bad enough that I can't read the display, it's definitely time to visit the ER. So, I read a few articles and a book on the topic: "EKG Interpretation - Master Basics Concepts of ECG" (3:00:34) "EKG or ECG Interpretation - Part 1/20" I am now more confused than when I started. More:

The problem is that my cardiologist can't tell much with just two points of contact between the hands. He wants all 10 leads properly located and attached, and then maybe he'll try render a suitable guess. That's not going to happen while I'm bouncing off the walls after getting electrocuted. If your heart decides to stop, you won't be in any condition to setup your EKG machine anyway.

If you're prone to getting shocked by the hi-v in your oscilloscopes, I suggest you look into replacing the CRT with an LCD display.

I agree entirely. I'm not expecting to survive long enough to attach the electrodes, fire-up and setup a scope and whatnot if I'd suffered a lethal shock. It's only to establish - if I survive - whether I've done any permanent damage requiring medical attention. That's all.

As you know, these old scopes put out 15-24KV for the screen for electrostatic purposes and the current by that point is really pretty small. It's really far more of a threat if one has a heart condition in the first place (whether that be due to general poor health or a previous belt off a toob is of little importance). Nevertheless, I am considering switching *some* of my more valued scopes and spectrum analysers to LCD display - but not for safety reasons.

You might do better running a blood and/or urine test looking for muscle markers and enzymes to see if you've damaged the heart muscle (myocardium).

Please remember that you have only one life to give to your hobby or profession.

I'm heartless. It's been bypassed.

At todays falling DSO prices, it might be better and cheaper to just buy a decent (Rigol) DSO.

I have one of these that I carry around with me but don't use it much (see below).

The Apple Watch 4 does a reasonable job too, I hear. Both are only single lead (as is yours), so there isn't a lot of information in the EKG. You could see an arrhythmia but there isn't enough information to do any diagnostics (the Kardia Mobile will detect atrial fibrillation but it's not perfect).

I tell my wife that contrary to what she says, I can prove that I have a heart.

Need more points and inputs to do anything very useful.

As you suggest, the post-deflection anode supplies don't deliver much continuous current. The cathode supplies on the old 'scopes - 2 to 4kV can deliver well over 1mA so are truly dangerous. Be careful!!

That would deprive me of the enjoyment of getting the old CRT scopes back into full running order again. I can't work on modern stuff. Surface mount?? Not likely! Not at my age anyway.

I will. I've been goofing around with this kind of stuff for 50+ years so I must be doing *something* right!

Touching the EHT with both hands at once might ensure survival :) Maybe.

NT

Or better still, imho, a S... er, forget that.

It's Cursitor Doom (a comic book character name) we're trying to help here. It's not that I wish him dead (there's no need, he's already in my killfile), it's just that there seems little point in helping an idiot self diagnose cardiovascular problems he may or may not have potentially [1] inflicted upon himself by poking fingers where they don't belong (inside of an old skool CRT 'scope, whether powered up or not).

When there's some 20KV of EHT involved, it's less a case of touching the EHT so much as the EHT reaching out to touch you!