Fluke Biomedical ProSim 6 User Manual
Page 101

Glossary
Introduction
A
A-7
QRS Complex
The part of the P-QRS-T wave that records ventricular depolarization and contraction.
R-Value
The non-pulsating components of tissue, specifically the tissue bed, the venous blood, the
capillary blood, and nonpulsatile arterial blood. Also referred to as the DC component.
Resistance
The opposition to electric current that is characteristic of a medium, substance, or circuit
element.
SA Node
The dominant pacemaker site in the heart, responsible for setting the heart rate.
Positioned in the right atrium near the inlet of the superior vena cava.
SaO2
Abbreviation for saturated oxygen, SaO2 is the ratio of the concentration of
oxyhemoglobin (cHbO2) to the concentration of the two principle types of blood
hemoglobin: saturated hemoglobin (HbO2) plus reduced hemoglobin (Hb).
Serial Port
An asynchronous COMmunication port/address to which a peripheral—such as a printer
or a mouse—is connected to a computer or other device. SEE RS-232.
Sinus Arrhythmia
Beats that are normal, but triggered at an irregular rate, from 60 BPM to 100 BPM.
Sinus arrhythmia occurs when the SA node paces the heart irregularly. Typically, the
heartbeat increases with each intake of breath and decreases with each exhalation (a
condition most commonly found in young children and the elderly).
SpO2
The type of saturated oxygen measured with a pulse oximeter.
Supraventricular Tachycardia
Normal rhythm at a faster-than-normal rate of 200 BPM. Supraventricular tachycardia is
a combination of a junctional tachycardia (that is, an atrial tachycardia occurring in the
AV or junctional node) and an atrial tachycardia. Therefore, supraventricular tachycardia
encompasses multifocal, ectopic, atrial pacemakers in and around the AV node above the
bundle of His.
Swan-Ganz
A soft, balloon-tipped catheter used for measuring blood pressure and cardiac output.
The catheter is guided by blood flow into the pulmonary artery. A monitor near the tip of
the catheter detects PAP, PCWP, and thermodilution.
Swan-Ganz Procedure
After insertion of a Swanz-Ganz catheter into a vein (usually the basilic vein of the
forearm), the catheter is gently guided by the flow of the blood into the pulmonary artery.
A monitor attached to the distal lumen port supplies a reading of pulmonary-artery
pressure (PAP). Pulmonary-capillary-wedge pressure (PCWP) is determined by inflating
the balloon, which becomes wedged; when this wedge blocks blood flow, it provides a
reading of the pressure in the left side of the heart.
Thermodilution
The measuring of temperature change, enabled by the injection of a cold or room-
temperature solution (such as saline) into the right atrium by means of a Swan-Ganz
procedure.