Pulse
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In medicine, pulse is the rhythmic expansion and contraction of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle. The pulse may be felt in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface o
Pulse evaluation at the radial artery
Heart rate
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Heart rate is the frequency of the heartbeat measured by the number of contractions of the heart per minute. The heart rate varies according to the body's physical needs, including the need to absorb
Pulse
…varies by site. Similarly measurements of heart rate variability and pulse rate variability differ. In healthy people, the pulse rate is close to the heart rate, as measured by ECG. Measuring the pulse rate is therefore a convenient way to estimate the heart rate. Pulse deficit is a condition in which a person…
A medical monitoring device displaying a normal human heart rate
The human heart
Autonomic innervation of the heart: Cardioaccelerator and cardioinhibitory areas are components of the paired cardiac centers located in the medulla oblongata of the brain. They innervate the heart via sympathetic cardiac nerves that increase cardiac activity and vagus (parasympathetic) nerves that slow cardiac activity.
Effects of parasympathetic and sympathetic stimulation on normal sinus rhythm: The wave of depolarization in a normal sinus rhythm shows a stable resting HR. Following parasympathetic stimulation, HR slows. Following sympathetic stimulation, HR increases.