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The limb leads are placed on all 4 limbs. Look at the diagram. The coloured dots represent the points that the limb leads measure electrical activity at. 

 

 

NOTE: the black limb lead on the right foot is not shown in the diagram. This is the earthing lead and it gives a reference point for the other leads. It doesn't actually measure anything.

Each coloured point 'looks' towards another and measures if there's any depolarisation in that direction.

 

Any depolarisation that happens along one of these lines towards the +ve end will appear as an upwards deflection on an ECG trace in that lead. Any depolarisation that happens in the opposite direction will appear as a downwards deflection.

 

Traces on the ECG

 

- Depolarisation going between red dot and yellow dot appears on limb lead I tracing

 

- Depolarisation going between red dot and green dot appears on the limb lead II trace

 

-Depolarisation going between yellow dot and green dot appears in limb lead III tracing

 

 

 

Limb Leads

 

Use this outline if you have no prior knowlege of ECGs, how they work or how to set them up. This map will take you through the basic physics and anatomy, set up of the ECG and will touch on interpretation. There is a test at the end to examine your understanding.

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Use this outline if you have some prior knowlege of how an ECG works, its set up and a good understanding of the anatomy of the heart's conducting system. This will focus on interpreting the readings on different leads of the ECG.

 

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Use this map if you already have a thourough understanding of heart anatomy, different arrythmias and their appearance on ECGs. This map focuses on testing your existing knowledge of interpreting ECGs.

 

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