Thoughts from a Lab Rat

Many studies require the use of cardiac monitoring. There are two methods. Live and recorded. Holter monitors are used for recording. It’s basically an always running ECG. It is connected with 8 leads to pads on your chest. The recorder itself is about the size of a personal cassette player. Holter monitors are usually worn for a period of 24 hours at a time and depending on the study, you may have to wear it 2 or more days in a row. While wearing a holter or telemetry monitor, you cannot do any rigorous activities or take a shower. Holter monitors record your information to a flash card which is then analyzed at a later date. Telemetry monitors are used for live viewing of your heart activity. This is especially useful for drugs that may have an abnormal effect on the heart and the study staff can see any changes immediately. Whether you wear either monitor, men should shave their chests at the locations the pads will go. The pads must have a clean contact to the skin. The staff will shave your chest for you and it will be a dry shave, so do yourself a favor and do it beforehand. Make sure you do not use any lotions or aftershave on your chest as they will also interfere with the connectivity. Depending on the clinic or study sponsor, they may use a pad which is basically sandpaper to rub your skin a bit to further enhance the connection. Once you are finished wearing the monitors, remove the pads as soon as possible. Some people’s skin can get irritated by the pads and you will want to clean the area and apply lotion if you have it. If you are out of the study, you will want to apply some antibacterial crème to help heal if you are having a bad reaction.