What is a Holter Monitor?
A Holter machine is a cardiology diagnostic device that is used by trained operators in a hospital or medical professional’s facility environment, as well as used in clinics, physician offices, outreach centres, or wherever a holter monitoring test is performed for long duration ECG acquisition, analysis, and recording system. The devices use electrodes around the person's chest that transmit heart signals to the device. These signal converted reports and analysed by doctor with the help holter software/recorder.
What is a Holter test?
Holter monitoring is a non-invasive method of collection data about the heart rate and rhythm of the heartbeat, the presence of any abnormalities or irregularities, and the overall function of the cardiac conduction system by measuring the electrical activity of the patient’s heart over the time.
It can be readings of 24 hours to 72 hours.
How does a holter EKG monitor work?
Performing a holter test with modern advance devices is become very easy.
After setting up a holter machine according to the instruction manual, which includes machine installation, lead placement on the person, and entering patient information like age and name into the device, the procedure of taking a holter reading begins with just the press of the start button.
The procedure includes:
- Placed leads detect the electrical signals produced by the heart as it beats over the time.
- The machine filters out noise and interference to isolate the heart's electrical activity.
- After that, the filtered and amplified signals are graphically represented on a display screen, and you can transfer this report to your pc/desktop.
- Healthcare professionals interpret the holter tracing to diagnose heart conditions like arrhythmias and ischaemia.
Use or purpose of a Holter Monitor:
Unlike an ECG machine, which cannot continuously record readings for more than a few minutes, a heart monitor collects heart electrical signals over 24 to 72 hours. This continuous monitoring provides essential insights into heart function during daily activities, aiding in effective treatment planning.
A healthcare provider can ask for a holter test to their patients in following cases:
- To assess Cardiac Health over the time.
- Arrhythmia Diagnose that was not show up on a standard ECG.
- Assessing Heart Conditions: For known conditions like cardiomyopathy, it monitors any changes in heart function.
What are the channels in a holter monitor?
A Holter monitor may have many numbers of channels, depending on the manufacturer, and it also depends on what type of analysis we are trying to achieve:
- 3 channel: It is a traditional option which is used to monitor heart rate and rhythm. Its configuration allows for more comprehensive monitoring than 2-channel devices, providing better detection of arrhythmias and other cardiac abnormalities
- 12 channel: It is a more advanced option that can provide information similar to an ECG stress test. This device records the heart's electrical activity through 12 different leads. This device captures detailed information from multiple angles of the heart, allowing for more precise diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities compared to standard 2 or 3-channel monitors.
Holter Monitor Cost
Here below us categorized the list of Holter Monitor price according to brands:
| S.NO
| PRODUCT NAME
| COST
|
| 1
| Contec
| ₹ 33,400 - ₹ 45,000
|
| 2
| RMS
| ₹ 92,000 - ₹ 187,925
|
| 3
| Nasan Medical
| ₹ 117,192 - ₹ 153,864
|
| 4
| BPL
| ₹ 228,000 - ₹143,800
|
