Difference Between EEG and ECG
EEG and ECG are techniques of assessing two different parts of the human body. EEG is the abbreviation of Electro Encephalogram which is a system of evaluating the electric activity of the brain. On the other hand, ECG is the abbreviation for Electro Cardiograph that is an electrical recording of the heart and is used for investigating any problem in the heart.
When EEG is carried out, a set of electrodes are placed in your head and the terminals are connected to the equipment that will draw a graph. The brain is a complicated wiring of neurons. The pulsations in the nerve tissue will be conducted as electric impulses. These are minor currents; which can be evaluated by the EEG. An EEG is generally undertaken to detect the history of epilepsy or the seizure disease, sleeping disorders or narcolepsy and at times to check on the visible changes in the conscious level.
ECG is one of the most common words that are heard frequently. If you have suffered from chest pain previously and may have taken your own ECG. It is noticeable that taking an ECG involves placing electrodes in the chest and on hands and feet. In cardiac muscles, the electric impulses pass as an electric signal which is one of the reasons why patients are asked to keep their mobile phones away from the heart, particularly if you are with a cardiac pacemaker. This electric activity is evaluated by the ECG graph. From the ECG, changes in the arrhythmias or the irregular beating of the heart, cardiac block, the block in passing impulses from the SA node where the impulses usually starts – pace maker to the ventricles and ischemic alterations which are the changes occurring due to reduced blood flow to the heart can be identified. The enlargement of the left ventricle which is the chamber of the heart that pumps out the blood from the heart can also be know from the ECG.
The EEG and ECG are usually conducted by the technician, but only a specialist in the respective field can formulate a report and interpret it. While ECG can be taken without any special preparation, contrarily EEG may require some special preparations. The head should be cleaned and made free from dirt or oil which may be done by washing the head with shampoo while in some cases drugs such as sleeping tablets would have to be stopped. The patient would also be required to be with the equipment for a longer period of time as compared to that of the ECG patient.
Essentially, ECG and EEG are the evaluation of the electrical alterations in the heart and brain and they differ by the number of electrodes, duration and preparation.