Pharmacy Product >> Health Topics >> Site Map >> Medical test

Medical test

A medical test is any kind of diagnostic procedure performed for health reasons. For example:

to diagnose diseases
to measure the progress or recovery from disease
to confirm that a person is free from disease
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.

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.

Medical tests can be classified into three categories:

invasive
minimally invasive
non-invasive
Types of medical tests include:

Consulting room tests:

auscultation, including listening with a stethoscope
weighing, and measuring height and girth
measuring blood pressure
taking the patient's pulse
breath tests
reflex tests
sight test
ophthalmoscopy
hearing test
digital rectal examination
vaginal examination

More invasive examinations requiring sterile procedures:

biopsies
lumbar puncture

Requiring laboratory analysis:

blood tests
ESR
CBC (complete blood count)
urine tests
DNA tests
stool samples
blood gas monitor

Requiring microscopy:

Pap smears

Requiring elaborate medical equipment:

X-rays
barium enema
intravenous pyelogram (IVP test)
ultrasound scans
electrocardiogram (EKG)
electroencephalogram (EEG)
computer aided tomography scans
positron emission tomography
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
functional MRI
endoscopy
colonoscopy
cystoscopy
sigmoidoscopy
colposcopy