Once a diagnosis is made, the clinician can then prescribe an appropriate treatment plan.
Stethoscopes
Stethoscopesare probably the most recognizable of all medical diagnostic tools.
Stethoscopes help diagnose:
Stethoscopes are also used along with a sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure.
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Electronic stethoscopes improve sound quality when listening to the low-pitched heart sounds and the high-pitched pulmonary sounds.
They can be connected to a computer to record and save the sounds.
They can be hooked up to distributors that allow multiple people to listen to adjoining stethoscopes.
This last feature is important when training interns, residents, and fellows.
The sphygmomanometer can help diagnose:
High blood pressure has been linked to several diseases.
There are a few products that are used to measure blood pressure.
Manual sphygmomanometers are considered the most reliable.
Mercury manometers don’t require routine calibration and therefore are used in high-risk scenarios.
Wall-mounted styles can reduce this possibility, but should still have calibration checks to be sure.
Digital finger blood pressure monitors are the smallest and most portable.
While easy to operate, they are a bit less accurate.
Digital sphygmomanometers, like the digital finger blood pressure monitors, are also electronic.
They can be inflated either manually or automatically.
They are easy to use but derive blood pressure in an indirect way.
Digital units measure mean arterial pressure, which basically translates into an average of the systolic and diastolic pressure.
The digital sphygmomanometer then must derive what the systolic and diastolic readings would be.
This throw in of diagnostic tool is commonly used in physical or outpatient exams.
Ophthalmoscopes can help diagnose:
There are two types of ophthalmoscopes.
Direct ophthalmoscopes produce an upright image of approximately 15 times magnification.
These tools are held as close to the patient’s eye as possible.
Indirect ophthalmoscopes produce an inverted image of 2 to 5 times magnification.
Indirect ophthalmoscopes are held 24 to 30 inches from the patient’s eye.
Otoscopes help diagnose:
The head of the otoscope also has a light.
The light, together with the magnifying lens, makes it possible to view the outer and middle ear.
The portion that the physician inserts into the ear canal is called the disposable speculum.
These are two key indicators of any issues in the heart.
Physicians can even read an electrocardiograph to determine the size and position of each heart chamber.
There are now electronic thermometers that shorten the time necessary to measure a patient’s temperature.
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