What does DS stand for?
Detaching System, allows detaching the stethoscope tubing from the SONOPLUS head.
I cannot consistently obtain high-quality ECG tracings through direct positioning of the SONOPLUS onto the patient’s left hemithorax. What can be done to improve recording quality?
The following points need to be considered:
a) General issues:
• Patients must be in an either sitting or laying down position, resting comfortably.
Importantly, they should not be holding up their clothing.
• To optimize ECG signal capture, ask the patient to take a deep breath, then to
exhale as much as possible and hold his/her breath for a few seconds. In expiratory apnea, interference from respiratory muscles and distance between the heart and the thoracic body surface are minimized, improving ECG recording quality.
• When positioning the SONOPLUS onto the patient, rest the edge of the (preferably right) hand holding the SONOPLUS firmly on the patient’s chest. This allows best to maintain proper contact and constant pressure between the SONOPLUS and the patient’s skin.
b) Skin preparation:
• Remove oily film with a well-wetted alcohol swab at the sites at which you plan
to position the SONOPLUS electrodes (particularly paying attention to the NEG.
and POS. electrodes). This will suffice in most circumstances.
• If recording quality remains unsatisfactory, apply small amounts of ECG gel to
the electrodes.
• In patients with dense chest hair, in addition to the above, slightly rotate the
SONOPLUS after positioning to both sides until satisfactory ECG signal capture
is achieved. In rare cases, small areas of skin may have to be shaved.
c) Chest wall characteristics:
• Presence of pulmonary disease, in particular chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), may lead to hyperinflation of the lungs (i.e., emphysema) and increase the distance between the heart muscle and the outer surface of the thoracic cage. In patients with severe COPD, the increased distance between the heart muscle and the outer surface of the thoracic cage may limit the ability to obtain good ECG signal capture with the SONOPLUS.
• Congenital or acquired (e.g., pectus excavatum or post-traumatic) chest wall deformities may also impact on the ability to obtain satisfactory ECG signal capture.
d) Skin diseases:
• In patients with various skin diseases, comprising eczema, psoriasis, severe acne,
seborrhea or infectious skin conditions, direct positioning of the SONOPLUS on the patient’s skin may not advisable, depending on severity and localization of the
lesions.
e) Interferences from high frequency electrical instruments:
• Maintain a minimal distance of at least five feet between such equipment and the SONOPLUS.
During recording with the SONOPLUS, the LCD display either freezes or the device stops responding to the MODE and MEMORY control buttons?
First, attempt to press the MODE button for 2 seconds to switch off the SONOPLUS. If the SONOPLUS successfully switches off, restart the device again and proceed with recording. If the SONOPLUS does not switch off, open and close again the battery cover (the SONOPLUS switches off) and switch on the device again.
The SONOPLUS does not store recorded ECG tracings.
Check the battery status in the OPENING menu. The SONOPLUS will not store ECG tracings when the battery status indicates “low”. Open the battery cover and replace the batteries with fully charged AAAA batteries.
After properly connecting the SONOPLUS to the PC, PC downloading of stored ECG records does not commence.
The SONOPLUS must be switched on and properly connected to the PC in order to download stored ECG tracings from the SONOPLUS to the PC.
The SONOPLUS displays the wrong date and time in the OPENING menu on the LCD display or PC downloaded ECG tracings exhibit a wrong SONOPLUS record No. (consisting of the date and time of ECG recording)?
Opening of the battery cover, with or without changing batteries, will erase date and time stored in the SONOPLUS (i.e., the SONOPLUS will automatically reset the internal clock to January 1, 2001). In such an event, prior to ECG recording with the SONOPLUS, the date and time should be reset through the PC software program, requiring connecting the (switched on) SONOPLUS to the PC.
Does the SONOPLUS automatically update its date and time during each PC downloading of ECG tracings
Yes, but only if, following PC downloading of stored ECG tracings, all downloaded ECG tracings are also erased on the SONOPLUS.