6 types of test

1. Monitoring of body functions

Vital signs are measures of various physiological statistics, often taken by
health professionals, in order to assess the most basic body functions. Vital signs are
an essential part of a case presentation. The act of taking vital signs normally entails
recording body temperature, pulse rate (or heart rate) and blood pressure, but may
also include other measurements. Vital signs often vary by age. There are three vital
signs which are standard in most medical settings: body temperature, pulse rate (or
heart rate), blood pressure. The equipment needed is a thermometer, a
sphygmomanometer, and a watch. Though a pulse can often be taken by hand, a
stethoscope may be required for a patient with a very weak pulse.
2. Analysis of body fluids
The analysis of body fluids plays a critical role in the diagnosis and prognosis
of a disease. A change in concentration or composition of a particular biochemical
constituent in body fluids is used as an indicator of a physiological or pathological
condition. A particular component in body fluids can thus be considered as a marker
for the detection of a disease. Detection of such markers at an early stage can lead to a
prompt diagnosis, which can result in an appropriate therapeutic treatment. The
monitoring of a particular chemical species during the course of an illness, either an
endogenous or exogenous compound, can also give an insight into the effectiveness of
a particular therapy. Health evaluations and therapeutic screenings are also performed
by analyzing body fluids. Many medical decisions rely on the results provided by the
clinical laboratory on the analysis of body fluids. The clinical laboratory thus has the
task of providing reliable information for the detection, diagnosis, prognosis,
prevention and/or treatment of human diseases. It is extremely important then that the
clinical laboratory is properly equipped with the latest and most appropriate analytical
methodology to measure chemical species in biological fluids.
3. Imaging
An imaging test is a way to let doctors see what’s going on inside your body.
These tests send forms of energy (like x-rays, sound waves, radioactive particles, or
magnetic fields) through your body. Your body tissues change the energy patterns to
make an image or picture. These pictures show how your insides look and work so
that health care providers can see changes that may be caused by diseases like cancer.
Many health care providers plan x-rays or other imaging tests before treatment starts.
These pictures are then used to track changes during treatment. These are called
baseline studies because they show how things looked at the start. They can be
compared with later images to see the results of treatment over time.
Many health care providers plan x-rays or other imaging tests before treatment
starts. These pictures are then used to track changes during treatment. These are called
baseline studies because they show how things looked at the start. They can be
compared with later images to see the results of treatment over time.
Many different kinds of scans are used to get images of what’s happening
inside the body. Some of the more common types of imaging tests, how they are done,
and when you might need them can be found in these sections: Computed tomography
 (CT) scan, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, Breast MRI, X-rays and other
radiographic tests, Mammography, Nuclear medicine scans (bone scans, PET scans,
Thyroid scans, MUGA scans, gallium scans), and Ultrasound.
4. Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a nonsurgical procedure used to examine a person's digestive
tract. Using an endoscope, a flexible tube with a light and camera attached to it, your
doctor can view pictures of your digestive tract on a color TV monitor. During
an upper endoscopy, an endoscope is easily passed through the mouth and throat and
into the esophagus, allowing the doctor to view the esophagus, stomach, and upper
part of the small intestine. Similarly, endoscopes can be passed into the large intestine
(colon) through the rectum to examine this area of the intestine. This procedure is
called sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy depending on how far up the colon is examined.
A special form of endoscopy called endoscopic retrograde
cholangiopancreaticography, or ERCP, allows pictures of the pancreas, gallbladder,
and related structures to be taken. ERCP is also used for stent placement and biopsies.
Endoscopic ultrasound or EUS combines upper endoscopy
and ultrasound examination to obtain images and information about various parts of
the digestive tract.
Doctors will often recommend endoscopy to evaluate: Stomach pain,
Ulcers, gastritis, or difficulty swallowing, Digestive tract bleeding, Changes in bowel
habits (chronic constipation or diarrhea), Polyps or growths in the colon
In addition, your doctor may use an endoscope to take a biopsy (removal of
tissue) to look for the presence of disease.
Endoscopy may also be used to treat a digestive tract problem. For example,
the endoscope might not only detect active bleeding from an ulcer, but devices can be
passed through the endoscope that can stop the bleeding. In the colon, polyps can be
removed through the scope to prevent the development of colon cancer.
Also, using ERCP, gallstones that have passed outside the gallbladder and into
the bile duct can often be remove
5. Biopsy
A biopsy is a sample of tissue taken from the body in order to examine it more
closely. A doctor should recommend a biopsy when an initial test suggests an area of
tissue in the body isn't normal.
Doctors may call an area of abnormal tissue a lesion, a tumor, or a mass. These
are general words used to emphasize the unknown nature of the tissue. The suspicious
area may be noticed during a physical examination or internally on an imaging test.
Biopsies are most often done to look for cancer. But biopsies can help identify
many other conditions.
A biopsy might be recommended whenever there is an important medical
question the biopsy could help answer. Here are just a few examples:
a mammogram shows a lump or mass, indicating the possibility of breast cancer, a
mole on the skin has changed shape recently and melanoma is possible, a person has
chronic hepatitis and it's important to know if cirrhosis is present.
In some cases, a biopsy of normal-appearing tissue may be done. This can help
check for cancer spread or rejection of a transplanted organ.
 In most cases, a biopsy is done to diagnose a problem or to help determine the
best therapy option.
There are many different kinds of biopsies. Nearly all of them involve using a
sharp tool to remove a small amount of tissue. If the biopsy will be on the skin or
other sensitive area, numbing medicine is applied first.
6. Analysis of genetic material
The study of genes has proved to be a powerful approach to understanding biological
systems. Because genes affect virtually every aspect of the structure and function of
an organism, being able to identify and determine the role of genes and the proteins
that they encode is an important step in charting the various processes that underly a
particular character under investigation. It is interesting that geneticists study not only
hereditary mechanisms, but all biological mechanisms. Many different methodologies
are used to study genes and gene activities, and these methodologies can be
summarized briefly as follows:
1. Isolation of mutants affecting the process under study. Each mutant gene reveals a
genetic component of the process, and together they show the range of proteins
that interact in that specific process.
2. Analysis of progeny of controlled matings (“crosses”) between mutants and other
discontinuous variants. This type of analysis identifies genes and their alleles,
their chromosomal locations, and their inheritance patterns.
3. Biochemical analysis of cellular processes controlled by genes. Life is basically a
complex set of chemical reactions; so studying the ways in which genes are
relevant to these reactions is an important way of dissecting this complex
chemistry. Mutant alleles underlying defective function (see method 1) are
invaluable in this type of analysis. The basic approach is to find out how the
cellular chemistry is disturbed in the mutant individual and, from this information,
deduce the role of the gene.
4. Microscopic analysis. Chromosome structure and movement have long been an
integral part of genetics, but new technologies have provided ways of labeling
genes and gene products so that their locations can be easily visualized under the
microscope.
5. Analysis of DNA directly. Because the genetic material is composed of DNA, the
ultimate characterization is the analysis of DNA itself. Many procedures,
including cloning, are used. Cloning is a procedure by which an
individual gene can be isolated and amplified (multiply copied) to produce a pure
sample for analysis. After the clone of a gene has been obtained,
its nucleotide sequence can be determined and hence important information about
its structure and function can be obtained.