Test, Imaging and Diagnosis Terms

A method of producing pictures of areas inside the body.

A surgical procedure in which a portion of a lump or suspicious area is removed for diagnosis.

A procedure that uses ultrasound (high-energy sound waves that are bounced off internal tissues and organs) during surgery.

The x-ray picture of the urinary tract outlined by dye that the kidneys have filtered out of the blood.

The examination itself, in which timed x-rays follow dye through the kidneys and down into the bladder.

A timed series of x-rays that follows injected dye down the urinary tract to show where drainage has stalled.

A test in which blood or urine samples are checked for the amounts of certain substances released by the kidneys.

A reference range shows what is usual in a healthy population, not what suits one person, so a flagged result is not automatically abnormal.

A type of Pap test.

A blood test to measure the blood levels of certain substances released by the liver.

An image of the liver created on a computer screen or on film.

The step that converts a shadow on a scan into a name, and the point at which treatment can finally be planned.

A test used to measure how well the lungs work.

A scan that follows a trace of radioactive material through lymph channels to map where fluid from a given area drains.

An area where bone has been dissolved away, showing on an x-ray as a dark hole in an otherwise solid structure.

A noninvasive imaging method that provides information about cellular activity (metabolic information).

Compression is the uncomfortable part and also the useful part, since spreading the tissue thin is what makes small findings visible at a lower dose.

No screening test is purely beneficial, and mammography programs are judged on the balance between cancers found early and abnormalities that never needed finding.

Markers are measurable substances or traits that clinicians track to gauge whether a disease is present, progressing, or responding to treatment.

A test that measures the strength of the muscles used in breathing.