An echocardiogram is a painless, non-invasive test that uses ultrasound (high-frequency sound waves) from a hand-held wand placed on your chest to view pictures of the heart's valves and chambers to allow your doctor to evaluate the pumping action of the heart. When combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler, an echocardiogram may be used to evaluate blood flow across the heart's valves.

The test is used to:

• Assess the overall function of your heart
• Determine the presence of many types of heart disease, such as valve disease, myocardial disease, pericardial disease, infective endocarditis, cardiac masses and congenital heart disease
• Follow the progress of valve disease over time
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your medical or surgical treatments

Holter and event monitors can record how fast your heart is beating, whether the rhythm of your heartbeats is steady or irregular, and the strength and timing of the electrical impulses passing through each part of your heart. Information from these recordings helps doctors diagnose an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, and check whether treatments for the irregular heartbeat are working. Although similar, Holter and event monitors aren't the same. A Holter monitor records your heart's electrical activity the entire time you're wearing it. An event monitor only records your heart's electrical activity at certain times while you're wearing it. Most monitors have electrodes with sticky adhesive patches that attach to the skin on your chest. Some monitors and electrodes used for long-term recording may be implanted under your skin to make it easier for you to bathe and perform your daily activities. Your doctor will explain how to wear and use the monitor and tell you whether you need to adjust your activity during the testing period. You should avoid magnets, metal detectors, microwave ovens, electric blankets, electric toothbrushes, and electric razors while using your monitor. Usually, you will be instructed to keep electronic devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, and tablets away from the monitor. After you are finished using the monitor, you will return it to your doctor's office or the place where you picked it up. If you were using an implantable recorder, your doctor will remove it from your chest.

An exercise stress test, also called a treadmill test or stress test, helps your cardiologist understand well your heart handles exertion. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more oxygen, so the heart must pump more blood. The test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart. The patient will be connected to monitoring equipment and walk slowly in place on a treadmill. Then the speed is increased for a faster pace and the treadmill is tilted to produce the effect of going up a small hill. Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), and how tired you feel are monitored during the test. Your cardiologist may recommend an exercise stress test to:

• Diagnose coronary artery disease
• Diagnose a possible heart-related cause of symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath or lightheadedness
• Determine a safe level of exercise
• Check the effectiveness of procedures done to improve coronary artery circulation in patients with coronary artery disease
• Predict risk of dangerous heart-related conditions such as a heart attack.

A nuclear stress test uses radioactive dye and an imaging machine to create pictures showing the blood flow to your heart. The test measures blood flow while you are at rest and are exerting yourself, showing areas with poor blood flow or damage in your heart. The test usually involves injecting radioactive dye, then taking two sets of images of your heart — one while you're at rest and another after exertion. Such differences in the pictures helps your cardiologist determine whether there may be any major blockages in your arteries. They can also see if there has been damage to the heart muscle after a heart attack. The imaging additionally helps determine the best type of treatment you may need to correct any abnormal finding.

If your Cardiologist feels that you may not be able to tolerate an appropriate level of exercise on a treadmill, they may opt to use a pharmacological agent to mimic stress conditions to evaluate your heart. This may be used in cases of arthritis, poor conditioning, the use of certain blood pressure medications that prevent your heart rate from increasing with exercise, or the use of devices like a pacemaker of defibrillator.

It helps us to evaluate aneurysms of the aorta, which are most common in smokers and in certain genetic disorders. It involves placing an ultrasound probe over the abdomen and evaluating the size and structure of the aorta and its branches.

It helps to evaluate and localise blockages in the arteries of the arms and legs. It also helps to evaluate and localise blood clots in the veins. It involves placing an ultrasound probe over the limb vessels and evaluating the size and flow of blood in those vessels.