Diagnostic Tools-A general overview

Doctors base treatment of diseases and disorders on accurate diagnosis. They may use computer-assisted machines to detect abnormal changes in body structure, function or chemistry, as well as more traditional methods.

a) Basic techniques include feeling for lumps and tenderness and observing color changes and rashes. Other basic measures are as like:

Stethoscope, for listening to heart and lungs.
The clinical thermometer, used for measuring body temperature.
Sphygmomanometer, for checking blood pressure

b) Examining inside the body: It is done with the following methods and techniques.

X-rays, in which patients are exposed to a beam of rays (known as X-rays).
Ultrasound Imaging: It detects echoes of high-frequency sounds from internal organs.
Endoscopy: Which enables doctors to see (and operate) inside the body without major surgery, usually with a fibre-optic or rod-lens device, or with a tiny video camera.
Thermography: It's a temperature-mapping system that can show local inflammation.
CT/CAT Scan (Computerized Tomography/Computerized Axial Tomography): In this technique, a computer combines cross-sectional X-rays to make a 3-D image.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): It uses the interaction of radio waves with hydrogen atoms in the body of a person.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET): In this, scanning reveals chemical activity in organs, including the brain changes during various activities.

c) Measuring electrical activities: It's among the most important tools for heart and brain specialists. Techniques used are:

For heart, ECG (Electrocardiogram) is used.
For brain, EEG (Electroencephalogram) is used.

d) Examining body tissues: It's a job of histologists, pathologists, hematologists (blood experts) and others. Microscopes are used by the histologists, looking for tissue changes, and by pathologists, looking for micro-organisms and other signs of disease. Other tests used for assessing body tissues functioning include blood and urine tests, which include microscopic and chemical examination of both blood and urine.

By: grace
Published: 01/06/08