Electrocardiography
In Vivo ECG Recordings and Analysis
Electrocardiograms (ECGs) can be easily obtained from both mice and rats under light general isoflurane anesthesia. ECG electrodes (Unomedical) are attached to the paws and connected to a standardized 6-lead ECG amplifier module (EMKA Technologies) which includes high- and low-pass filters (set to 0.05 and 500 respectively) and a gain selection device (set to 1000-fold). Signals are digitized continuously and recorded with the IOX data acquisition system (EMKA Technologies).
ECGAuto software (EMKA Technologies) is used to analyze the data. This software allows both qualitative analysis (disturbance of the cardiac rhythm) and quantitative analysis (interval duration and wave surfaces) of the electrical complexes recorded.
