Invention of the Electrocardiograph Willem Einthoven invented the string galvanometer in 1903, a device sensitive enough to record the heart's small electrical impulses from the body surface, and coined the letters P, Q, R, S and T still used to label the waves of an electrocardiogram trace. His string galvanometer replaced cruder earlier capillary electrometers and made accurate, repeatable electrocardiography clinically practical for the first time, revolutionizing the diagnosis of heart rhythm and conduction disorders. Einthoven received the 1924 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram.
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Why did Einthoven label ECG waves P, Q, R, S and T instead of reusing earlier letters?
Einthoven used new letters, P through T, so his corrected waveform stayed distinct from the capillary electrometer's earlier A-B-C-D labels.
Willem Einthoven, who invented the string galvanometer in 1903, assigned the letters P, Q, R, S and T to the deflections of the corrected theoretical waveform his own equations produced. The capillary electrometer used before his device already labeled its cruder, uncorrected waveform A, B, C and D, so Einthoven chose a different set of letters to keep the two waveforms distinct and comparable. Those P, Q, R, S and T labels are still used on every electrocardiogram trace today, and the work earned Einthoven the 1924 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
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Source Wikipedia: Electrocardiography
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Electrocardiography
WikipediaHistory; Nobel Prize
Willem Einthoven's 1903 string galvanometer enabled precise measurement of these signals, revolutionizing cardiography.
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entity description, Invention of the Electrocardiograph
Willem Einthoven invented the string galvanometer in 1903, a device sensitive enough to record the heart's small electrical impulses from the body surface, and coined the letters P, Q, R, S and T still used to label the waves of an electrocardiogram trace.
- Discovered By: Willem Einthoven
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