Health > Nursing & Allied Health Encyclopedia

Autopsy

Healthline — Most autopsies advance medical knowledge or provide evidence for legal action. Medically, autopsies may determine the exact cause and circumstances of death, discover the pathway of a disease, and/or provide valuable information to be used in the ...More…

Autoimmune Disorders

Healthline — Autoimmune disorders are conditions in which a person's immune system attacks the body's own cells, causing tissue destruction. Autoimmunity is accepted as the cause of a wide range of disorders and suspected to be responsible for many more. ...More…

Autoimmune Disease Tests

Healthline — Autoimmune disease tests are screening procedures used in the diagnosis of immune system disorders and other disease states to detect autoantibodies, which are antibodies produced against the body's own tissues. Hundreds of different ...More…

Auditory Integration Training

Healthline — Auditory integration training, or AIT, is one specific type of music/auditory therapy based upon the work of French otolaryngologists Dr. Alfred Tomatis and Dr. Guy Berard. The premise upon which most auditory integration programs are based is ...More…

Audiometry

Healthline — Audiometry encompasses those procedures used to measure hearing thresholds. The purpose of audiometry is to establish an individual's range of hearing. It is most often performed when hearing loss is suspected. Audiometry can establish the extent ...More…

Audiology

Healthline — Audiology is the study of hearing. An audiologist is a health care professional who diagnoses and treats disorders of the auditory (hearing) and vestibular (balance) systems. Audiologists are concerned with hearing and balance problems. According ...More…

Astigmatism

Healthline — Astigmatism is a problem of visual distortion caused by a misshapen cornea. The cornea acts as a focusing lens for the eye. If the cornea does not have the proper shape, the eye is unable to properly focus an image. Most people have a certain ...More…

Asthma

Healthline — Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system that causes breathing difficulty. Asthma is typically expressed by repeated but reversible episodes of constriction and inflammation of the airways and lungs. Typical symptoms include wheezing, ...More…

Aseptic Technique

Healthline — Aseptic technique is a set of specific practices and procedures performed under carefully controlled conditions with the goal of minimizing contamination by pathogens. Aseptic technique is employed to maximize and maintain asepsis, the absence of ...More…

Arthroscopy

Healthline — Arthroscopy is the examination of a joint, specifically, the inside structures. The procedure is performed by inserting a specifically designed illuminated device, called an arthroscope, into the joint through a small incision. Arthroscopy may be ...More…

Arthrography

Healthline — Arthrograpy is a procedure involving multiple x rays of a joint using a fluoroscope, or a special piece of x-ray equipment which shows an immediate x-ray image. A contrast medium (in this case, a contrast iodine solution) injected into the joint ...More…

Art Therapy

Healthline — Art therapy, sometimes called creative arts therapy or expressive arts therapy, encourages people to express and understand emotions through artistic expression and through the creative process. Art therapy provides the client-artist with ...More…