ECG monitoring in ICU

Coronary care units were started in the 1960s with the aim of monitoring ECG carefully in patients with heart attack. Later various other biomedical signals have been added to the monitoring facilities in intensive care units. Most important goals of ECG monitoring in the intensive coronary care unit (ICU) are heart rate and basic rhythm determination as well as diagnosis of complex heart rhythm abnormalities (cardiac arrhythmia). Early detection and prompt treatment of life threatening heart rhythm disorders and thereby saving lives were the initial reasons for development of intensive monitoring facilities.