Stress Testing

This test, which takes a total of 4-6 hours, helps to determine which parts of the heart are healthy and function normally and which are not. A very small and harmless amount of radioactive substance is injected into the patient. Then the doctor uses a special camera to identify the rays emitted from the substance within the body. This produces clear pictures of the heart tissue while lying on a table and then while exercising on a treadmill. You will exercise until your heart rate increases to a level that the supervising cardiologist feels is adequate for the stress test. The resting and stress scans are them compared by the cardiologist.