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.

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:

Requiring laboratory analysis:

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

Requiring microscopy

Pap tests

Requiring elaborate medical equipment:

X-rayss
- 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