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A medical test is any kind of diagnostic medical procedure performed for health reasons. For example: A medical procedure is a course of action intended to achieve a result in the care of patients, used by medical or paramedical personnel. ...
- to diagnose diseases
- to measure the progress or recovery from disease
- to confirm that a person is free from disease
A drug test can be a specific medical test to acertain the presence of a certain drug in the body (for example, in drug addicts). In general, a diagnosis (plural diagnoses) has two distinct dictionary definitions. ...
The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ...
A drug test is a process using some kind of biological matter taken from an individual to determine previous drug use. ...
Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ...
Overview
Some medical tests are parts of a simple physical examination which require only simple tools in the hands of a skilled practitioner, and can be performed in an office environment. Some other tests require elaborate equipment or the use of a sterile operating theatre environment. In medicine, the physical examination or clinical examination is the process by which the physician investigates the body of a patient for signs of disease. ...
Some tests require samples of tissue or body fluids to be sent off to a pathology lab for further analysis. Some simple chemical tests, such as urine pH, can be measured directly in the doctor's office.
Most medical tests are conducted on the living; however, some of these tests can also be carried out on a dead person as part of an autopsy. Post-mortem, postmortem and post mortem redirect here. ...
Medical tests can be classified into three categories:
The term invasive in Medicine has two meanings: A medical procedure which penetrates or breaks the skin or a body cavity, i. ...
A minimally invasive medical procedure is defined as one that is carried out by entering the body through the skin or through a body cavity or anatomical opening, but with the smallest damage possible to these structures. ...
The term non-invasive in medicine has two meanings: A medical procedure which does not penetrate or break the skin or a body cavity, i. ...
Properties The result of a test may be positive or negative: this has nothing to do with a bad prognosis, but rather means that the test worked or not, and a certain parameter that was evaluated was present or not. For example, a negative screening test for breast cancer means that no sign of breast cancer could be found (which is in fact very positive for the patient). Prognosis (older Greek Ï€Ïόγνωσις, modern Greek Ï€Ïόγνωση - literally fore-knowing, foreseeing) is a medical term denoting the doctors prediction of how a patients disease will progress, and whether there is chance of recovery. ...
Screening, in medicine, is a strategy used to identify disease in an unsuspecting population. ...
Breast cancer is cancer of breast tissue. ...
Bayesian probability and performance metrics Other characteristics of tests include: The sensitivity of a binary classification test or algorithm, such as a blood test to determine if a person has a certain disease, or an automated system to detect faulty products in a factory, is a parameter that expresses something about the tests performance. ...
The specificity is a statistical measure of how well a binary classification test correctly identifies the negative cases, or those cases that do not meet the condition under study. ...
The positive predictive value is the proportion of patients with positive test results who are correctly diagnosed. ...
Binary classification is the task of classifying the members of a given set of objects into two groups on the basis of whether they have some property or not. ...
A false positive, also called false alarm, exists when a test reports, incorrectly, that it has found a signal where none exists in reality. ...
In statistics, a false negative, also called a Type II error or miss, exists when a test incorrectly reports that a result was not detected, when it was really present. ...
Types of medical tests
Consulting room tests Auscultation is the technical term for listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. ...
Stethoscope The stethoscope (Greek στηθοσκόπιο, of στήθος, stéthos - chest and σκοπή, skopé - examination) is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, or listening, to internal sounds in a human or animal body. ...
A sphygmomanometer, a device used for measuring blood pressure. ...
For other uses, see Pulse (disambiguation). ...
Drunk driving (drink driving in the UK) or drinking and driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol (i. ...
A reflex action or reflex is a biological control system linking stimulus to response and mediated by a reflex arc. ...
Traditional Snellen chart used for visual acuity testing. ...
In medicine the ophthalmoscope was invented by Hermann von Helmholtz and is an instrument that is used to look into the human eye. ...
A hearing test is an evaluation of the sensitivity of a persons sense of hearing, most often performed by an audiologist. ...
A rectal examination or rectal exam is an internal examination of the rectum by a physician. ...
More invasive examinations requiring sterile procedures Brain biopsy A biopsy (in Greek: bios = life and opsy = look/appearance) is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for examination. ...
A patient undergoes a lumbar puncture at the hands of a neurologist. ...
Requiring laboratory analysis A urinalysis (or UA) is an array of tests performed on urine, usually used in medical diagnosis. ...
Blood tests are laboratory tests done on blood to gain an appreciation of disease states and the function of organs. ...
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR), also called a sedimentation rate, sed rate or Biernacki Reaction, is a non-specific measure of inflammation that is commonly used as a medical screening test. ...
Schematics of shorthand for complete blood count commonly used by physicians. ...
A portable saturometer (for emergencies) Measure by optic properties through the nail A blood gas monitor is a medical device that measures the amount of a dissolved gas in a patients blood. ...
Genetic fingerprinting or DNA testing is a technique to distinguish between individuals of the same species using only samples of their DNA. Its invention by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester was announced in 1985. ...
Requiring microscopy 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. ...
Requiring elaborate medical equipment Image A: A normal chest X-ray. ...
A barium enema, also called a lower gastrointestinal series, is a medical procedure used to examine and dignose problems with the human large intestines. ...
An intravenous pyelogram (also known as IVP, pyelography, intravenous urogram or IVU) is a radiological procedure used to visualise disturbances of the urinary system, including the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. ...
Ultrasound is a form of cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, this limit being approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000 hertz). ...
“QRS†redirects here. ...
Electroencephalography is the neurophysiologic exploration of the electrical activity of the brain by the application of electrodes to the scalp. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Image of a typical positron emission tomography (PET) facility Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. ...
Magnetic Resonance Image showing a median sagittal cross section through a human head. ...
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (or fMRI) describes the use of MRI to measure hemodynamic signals related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. ...
Endoscopic images of a duodenal ulcer A flexible endoscope. ...
Colonoscopy is the minimally invasive endoscopic examination of the large colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. ...
A sterile flexible cystoscope in an operating theatre Hello this is a Message to Dad Quit Reading this stuff :) . Endoscopy of the urinary bladder via the urethra is called cystoscopy. ...
Sigmoidoscopy is the minimally invasive medical examination of the large intestine from the rectum through the last part of the colon. ...
A colposcopy or colcoscopy is a diagnostic procedure in which a colposcope is utilized to examine an illuminated, magnified view of the cervix, vagina, and vulva. ...
Psychological effects of diagnostic tests Medical tests can have value when results are abnormal by explaining to a patient the cause of their symptoms[1]. In addition, normal test results can have value by reassuring patients that serious illness is not present and even reduce the rates of subsequent symptoms [2]. Understanding the meaning of a normal test in advance of learning the test results may also reduce the rates of subsequent symptoms [3].
Lack of inadequate education about the meaning of test results (especially relevant to tests that may have incidental and unimportant findings) may cause an increase in symptoms [4]. In addition, the possible benefits must be weighed against the costs of unnecessary tests and resulting unnecessary follow-up and possibly even unnecessary treatment of incidental findings [5].
See also A medical record folder being pulled from the records A medical record, health record, or medical chart is a systematic documentation of a patients medical history and care [1][2]. The term Medical record is used both for the physical folder for each individual patient and for the body...
In medicine, the physical examination or clinical examination is the process by which the physician investigates the body of a patient for signs of disease. ...
References - ^ Ward B, Wu W, Richter J, Hackshaw B, Castell D (1987). "Long-term follow-up of symptomatic status of patients with noncardiac chest pain: is diagnosis of esophageal etiology helpful?". Am J Gastroenterol 82 (3): 215-8. PMID 3826028.
- ^ Sox H, Margulies I, Sox C (1981). "Psychologically mediated effects of diagnostic tests". Ann Intern Med 95 (6): 680-5. PMID 7305144.
- ^ Petrie K, Müller J, Schirmbeck F, Donkin L, Broadbent E, Ellis C, Gamble G, Rief W (2007). "Effect of providing information about normal test results on patients' reassurance: randomised controlled trial". BMJ 334: 352. PMID 17259186.
- ^ Kendrick D, Fielding K, Bentley E, Kerslake R, Miller P, Pringle M (2001). "Radiography of the lumbar spine in primary care patients with low back pain: randomised controlled trial". BMJ 322 (7283): 400-5. PMID 11179160.
- ^ Jarvik J, Hollingworth W, Martin B, Emerson S, Gray D, Overman S, Robinson D, Staiger T, Wessbecher F, Sullivan S, Kreuter W, Deyo R (2003). "Rapid magnetic resonance imaging vs radiographs for patients with low back pain: a randomized controlled trial". JAMA 289 (21): 2810-8. PMID 12783911.
External links - Diagnostic medical tests - Informative, educational and user- friendly web site that offers valuable information about laboratory services, diagnostic and medical tests with comprehensive references and information.
- Detecting breast cancer earlier - Breast cancer research foundation web site. Information on breast cancer medical researches that demonstrates the potential for discovering earlier methods of detecting breast cancer.
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