Welcome to Medical Tests Home Page

A medical test is primarily a diagnostic procedure to identify health problems. You can find out the exact cause of your illness and determine the appropriate treatment depending on the results. Furthermore, a medical test can check the response of the body to the treatment provided. A test can be created to either focus on diagnosing a particular disease or to find out the underlying cause of an illness from the results of a test.

Medical tests are of different kinds - ranging from a simple pH test of urine to a CT scan. Some tests require basic and simple equipments, which can be utilized by a physician in his office, and some tests require a more sophisticated setting with advanced equipments. Data or sample collected at a test can even be sent to laboratories for analysis - e.g. to obtain complete blood count. Samples may also be put under the microscope for analysis.

Medical tests can be classified as invasive, minimally invasive and non-invasive depending on the technique employed. The terms are self-explanatory; invasive refers to an incision or entry of medical apparatus into the body during the medical test. When the entry causes negligible damage to the body at the entry point, it is called as minimally invasive. A non-invasive test is one where there is no physical insertion or entry of apparatus during the test.

In general, medical tests fall into six main categories. Measurement of body functions is done with tests that analyze and study the functioning of the various body organs. For instance, an ECG (electrocardiography) is conducted to measure the electrical activity of the heart. Biopsy includes tests that require a tissue sample to be studied under the microscope to discover any abnormal cells. E.g. tissue from a body part can be studied to find any cancer cells with a biopsy.

Endoscopy refers to tests that are conducted by inserting a viewing tube into the body through an existing or a created cavity. A colonoscopy is a common example of endoscopy; problems can be even corrected during an endoscopy. Analysis of body fluids includes tests that examine urine, blood, cerebrospinal fluid etc. Imaging comprises of all tests like X-rays, ultrasounds and scans where the image of the body may be seen. Analysis of genetic material is done with tests to study cells from the blood, skin etc. Any genetic disorder or disease may be determined by studying the DNA.

Diagnosis of diseases and other problems have been made accurate with the help of medical tests. When your doctor recommends a test for you, get it done, as it will enable you to tackle a problem better, if any is found.

For information on any medical test, you may select it from the left hand side menu.

MEDICAL TESTS

Abdominal Ultrasound
Abdominal X-Ray
Allergy Testing
Amniocentesis
Amylase Blood Test
Angiodynography
Angiogram
Arterial Blood Gases
Arthrocentesis
Arthrogram
Barium Enema
Blood Chemistry
Blood Coagulation Test
Blood Cultures
Blood Glucose Test
Blood Test Smac 25
Bone Marrow Biopsy Aspiration
Cardiac Catheterization Angioplasty
Cardiac Enzymes
Cholesterol Blood Test
Complete Blood Count
CT Scanning Back
CT Scanning Chest Abdomen
Drug Levels
Glucose Tolerance Test
Hepatitis Blood Test
HIV Blood Test
Kidney Biopsy
Kidney Blood Test
Lipoproteins
Liver Biopsy
Liver Blood Test
Lymph Node Biopsy
Mononucleosis Test
Paracentesis
Peritoneal Lavage
Pregnancy Blood Test
Prostate Specific Antigen
Skin Biopsy
Spine X-Rays
Thyroid Biopsy
Thyroid Blood Test
Toxicology