A treadmill is an exercise device that is used in gymnasiums across the world. It allows a person to walk, jog, or run while being in one place. This is done by the treadmill's rolling road which simulates the speed of a road moving below the feet of the person who is exercising. The treadmill is very useful for monitoring exercise progress as it allows the individual to choose the speed, grade of slope and duration of exercise.
For medical testing, the treadmill test is very useful. The human body has many different organs which function at different intensities depending on the requirement at any given time. The heart and lungs are particularly impressive organs as they can function at an extremely slow speed when the person is at rest, but extremely rapidly when extra energy is required. Energy is produced from the nutrients and oxygen pumped in the body through our blood. When the heart is beating rapidly, the blood pressure is increased. During this time, it may be more possible to isolate any problems existing within the heart or in the blood supply system to the heart muscles. These problems might not plague the individual while he or she is at rest. For this reason, the treadmill test is required to stress the heart to the point where it will show any defect.
The treadmill test is a gradual process which follows several stages. The pre-test stage is the stage when the heart is scanned using an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram. This is the pre-test scan to check the various aspects of the heart's functioning. The next stage is the slow exercise stage where the individual is made to walk slowly on the treadmill with the electrocardiogram attached. The speeds and duration of each speed on the treadmill are governed by a testing protocol known as the Bruce protocol. This is a protocol set up in order to apply a control to the treadmill test procedure. Using the Bruce protocol, the treadmill speed is increased every few minutes with an increase in grade of slope as well. For each increase, the duration to the next increase is also raised. This means that for every subsequent stage, the patient has to work harder and harder for longer periods of time.
After this stage, the patient is subjected to another echocardiogram to see the heart as it beats rapidly. At any point, the test may be stopped if the patient complains of pain or shows any abnormal symptoms.