Medical Device and Equipment Terms

A machine that uses electricity to form a stream of fast-moving subatomic particles.

An instrument that uses very small amounts of fluid on a microchip to do certain laboratory tests.

Diagnosis of many conditions rests on magnification, because healthy tissue and diseased tissue often part company only at cellular scale.

A device that uses x-rays instead of visible light to form images of very small structures, such as the insides of blood vessels and cells.

A soft tube threaded through the nose down into the stomach, used to feed, to give medicine, or to drain.

A thin tube-like instrument used to examine the inside of the nose.

A nebulizer converts liquid medication into a fine mist that a person inhales directly into the lungs and airways.

The abbreviation written on charts for the nose-to-stomach tube, and the one most often confused with the other tubes on a ward.

A device used to inhale (breathe in) small doses of nicotine through the mouth.

A device surgically placed under the scalp and used to deliver anticancer drugs to the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

A handheld light and lens that turns the pupil into a window onto living blood vessels and nerve tissue.

A pacemaker is an implanted device that monitors heart rhythm and delivers electrical stimulation whenever the heart beats too slowly or irregularly.

A feeding tube placed into the stomach through the abdominal wall with the help of a camera, avoiding an open operation.

A firm rod or inflatable device that is placed in the penis (an external male reproductive organ) during a surgical procedure.

A small, flexible tube used to deliver fluids into the body.

A device that is used to help a person talk after a laryngectomy.

A port is a small device implanted under the skin that allows repeated vein access for medication or blood draws without new needle sticks.

Because the entire device sits beneath the skin, a port-a-cath requires only a needle stick rather than a visible external tube between uses.

Replacing a missing part is only half the task, since the fit against the remaining tissue decides whether a device is used or abandoned.

A pump is a device that delivers a controlled amount of fluid at a set rate, used for drugs, nutrients, or other body fluids.