Cytopathology is a branch of pathology that studies and diagnoses diseases on the cellular level. The most common use of cytopathology is the Pap smear, used to detect cervical cancer at an early treatable stage. Pathology (in ancient Greek pathos = feeling, pain, suffering and logos = discourse or treatise, i. ... The pap smear as we know it is an invention of Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou (1883-1962), an American of Greek birth, the father of cytopathology. ...

Two methods of collecting cells for analysis are:

1. Exfoliative Cytology – Cells are extracted from fluid shed into the body cavities. For example, in pleural fluid, ascitic fluid, or in the case of the Pap smear, cells scraped from the cervix.
2. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) – A 18 to 20 gauge needle attached to a 10cc syringe is used to aspirate (pull out) cells from lesions or masses in various organs of the body by application of negative pressure (suction). FNAC can be done directly on a mass in superficial regions like the neck, thyroid or breast; or it maybe be assisted by ultrasound or CAT scan.

In anatomy, the pleural cavity is the potential space between the lungs and the chest wall. ... In higher vertebrates, the peritoneum is the serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity - it covers most of the intra-abdominal organs. ... Different bevels on hypodermic needles Syringe on left, hypodermic needle with attached color-coded luer lock on right. ... Medical ultrasonography is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to visualize internal organs, their size, structure and their pathological lesions. ... CAT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around...

See also

• Cellular pathology