What is electrophysiology?

What Does electrophysiology Mean

The scientific discipline dedicated to the analysis of electrical phenomena in people and animals is called electrophysiology . The concept is formed with the compositional element electro- (which refers to electricity or electricity) and the noun physiology (the specialty focused on the functions of living beings).

Electrophysiology, in this way, studies the electrical properties of cells . It is usually considered as a branch of medicine that is oriented to bioelectric processes.
Many times when talking about electrophysiology we refer specifically to cardiac electrophysiology , an area of cardiology (the study of the heart). It is important to mention that the heartbeat is stimulated through the electrical signals that are produced in the myocardium.

The nodules (specialized cells found in the right atrium) are responsible for issuing electrical impulses. These impulses cause the atria to contract so that blood passes to the ventricles, and then they cause the ventricles to contract, thereby expelling blood to the rest of the body. Cardiac electrophysiology, in this framework, investigates the intervention of electricity in the whole process.
Cardiac electrophysiology experts can diagnose and treat electrical disorders of the heart , which often lead to arrhythmias , bradycardias, or tachycardias . The so-called electrophysiological studies allow us to see how the heart works at an electrical level.
The development of an electrophysiological study consists of the introduction of catheters that are directed to the heart to record, from inside the organ , the electrical activity. Sometimes, the treatment indicated for an electrical problem of the heart consists of the installation of a pacemaker : a device that can generate electrical impulses and thus stimulate or regulate the heart rhythm.