Logging the heart with microcomputer-based labs

A single heartbeat is a complicated process. In Dutch upper secondary biology textbooks this process is illustrated by the classical Wiggers diagram, which usually shows different heart-related quantities, like voltage (ECG), blood pressure, and the heart sounds. It may help students to understand the nature of the Wiggers diagram if they perform comparable measurements of heart-related quantities in the classroom by themselves. We highlight some features of recent developments in Microcomputer-Based Laboratories (MBL) that make such measurements possible. Based on findings of classroom experiments we show how MBL may thus be applied in teaching the working of the heart.