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
  • fundus inspection
• 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