Determination, by measurement or comparison with a standard, of the correct value of each scale reading on a meter or other measuring instrument; or determination of the settings of a control device that correspond to particular values of voltage, current, frequency or other output.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

A basis of value established for the measure of quantity, weight, extent or quality, e.g. weight standards, standard solutions, methods, techniques, and procedures used in diagnosis and therapy.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

A system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Methods of creating machines and devices.

A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.

The evaluation of incidents involving the loss of function of a device. These evaluations are used for a variety of purposes such as to determine the failure rates, the causes of failures, costs of failures, and the reliability and maintainability of devices.

Remains, impressions, or traces of animals or plants of past geological times which have been preserved in the earth's crust.

Devices or objects in various imaging techniques used to visualize or enhance visualization by simulating conditions encountered in the procedure. Phantoms are used very often in procedures employing or measuring x-irradiation or radioactive material to evaluate performance. Phantoms often have properties similar to human tissue. Water demonstrates absorbing properties similar to normal tissue, hence water-filled phantoms are used to map radiation levels. Phantoms are used also as teaching aids to simulate real conditions with x-ray or ultrasonic machines. (From Iturralde, Dictionary and Handbook of Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Imaging, 1990)

Concentration or quantity that is derived from the smallest measure that can be detected with reasonable certainty for a given analytical procedure.

The analysis of a chemical substance by inserting a sample into a carrier stream of reagent using a sample injection valve that propels the sample downstream where mixing occurs in a coiled tube, then passes into a flow-through detector and a recorder or other data handling device.

Liquid chromatographic techniques which feature high inlet pressures, high sensitivity, and high speed.

Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.

Method of analyzing chemicals using automation.

Methodologies used for the isolation, identification, detection, and quantitation of chemical substances.

Any device or element which converts an input signal into an output signal of a different form. Examples include the microphone, phonographic pickup, loudspeaker, barometer, photoelectric cell, automobile horn, doorbell, and underwater sound transducer. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

Substances used for the detection, identification, analysis, etc. of chemical, biological, or pathologic processes or conditions. Indicators are substances that change in physical appearance, e.g., color, at or approaching the endpoint of a chemical titration, e.g., on the passage between acidity and alkalinity. Reagents are substances used for the detection or determination of another substance by chemical or microscopical means, especially analysis. Types of reagents are precipitants, solvents, oxidizers, reducers, fluxes, and colorimetric reagents. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed, p301, p499)

A noninvasive technique that uses the differential absorption properties of hemoglobin and myoglobin to evaluate tissue oxygenation and indirectly can measure regional hemodynamics and blood flow. Near-infrared light (NIR) can propagate through tissues and at particular wavelengths is differentially absorbed by oxygenated vs. deoxygenated forms of hemoglobin and myoglobin. Illumination of intact tissue with NIR allows qualitative assessment of changes in the tissue concentration of these molecules. The analysis is also used to determine body composition.

Lack of correspondence between the way a stimulus is commonly perceived and the way an individual perceives it under given conditions.

Measuring and weighing systems and processes.

A principle of estimation in which the estimates of a set of parameters in a statistical model are those quantities minimizing the sum of squared differences between the observed values of a dependent variable and the values predicted by the model.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Graphical representation of a statistical model containing scales for calculating the prognostic weight of a value for each individual variable. Nomograms are instruments that can be used to predict outcomes using specific clinical parameters. They use ALGORITHMS that incorporate several variables to calculate the predicted probability that a patient will achieve a particular clinical endpoint.

Any of a variety of procedures which use biomolecular probes to measure the presence or concentration of biological molecules, biological structures, microorganisms, etc., by translating a biochemical interaction at the probe surface into a quantifiable physical signal.

The measurement of radiation by photography, as in x-ray film and film badge, by Geiger-Mueller tube, and by SCINTILLATION COUNTING.

A microanalytical technique combining mass spectrometry and gas chromatography for the qualitative as well as quantitative determinations of compounds.

Chromatographic techniques in which the mobile phase is a liquid.

Electric conductors through which electric currents enter or leave a medium, whether it be an electrolytic solution, solid, molten mass, gas, or vacuum.

The use of electronic equipment to observe or record physiologic processes while the patient undergoes normal daily activities.

A mass spectrometry technique using two (MS/MS) or more mass analyzers. With two in tandem, the precursor ions are mass-selected by a first mass analyzer, and focused into a collision region where they are then fragmented into product ions which are then characterized by a second mass analyzer. A variety of techniques are used to separate the compounds, ionize them, and introduce them to the first mass analyzer. For example, for in GC-MS/MS, GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY is involved in separating relatively small compounds by GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY prior to injecting them into an ionization chamber for the mass selection.

A technique using antibodies for identifying or quantifying a substance. Usually the substance being studied serves as antigen both in antibody production and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.

Behavior of LIGHT and its interactions with itself and materials.

A mass spectrometry technique used for analysis of nonvolatile compounds such as proteins and macromolecules. The technique involves preparing electrically charged droplets from analyte molecules dissolved in solvent. The electrically charged droplets enter a vacuum chamber where the solvent is evaporated. Evaporation of solvent reduces the droplet size, thereby increasing the coulombic repulsion within the droplet. As the charged droplets get smaller, the excess charge within them causes them to disintegrate and release analyte molecules. The volatilized analyte molecules are then analyzed by mass spectrometry.

Any visible result of a procedure which is caused by the procedure itself and not by the entity being analyzed. Common examples include histological structures introduced by tissue processing, radiographic images of structures that are not naturally present in living tissue, and products of chemical reactions that occur during analysis.

A graphic means for assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons; may also be used in other studies, e.g., distinguishing stimuli responses as to a faint stimuli or nonstimuli.

Method of tissue preparation in which the tissue specimen is frozen and then dehydrated at low temperature in a high vacuum. This method is also used for dehydrating pharmaceutical and food products.

Clotting time of PLASMA recalcified in the presence of excess TISSUE THROMBOPLASTIN. Factors measured are FIBRINOGEN; PROTHROMBIN; FACTOR V; FACTOR VII; and FACTOR X. It is used for monitoring anticoagulant therapy with COUMARINS.

Determination of the spectra of ultraviolet absorption by specific molecules in gases or liquids, for example Cl2, SO2, NO2, CS2, ozone, mercury vapor, and various unsaturated compounds. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

A barbiturate that is used as a sedative. Secobarbital is reported to have no anti-anxiety activity.

Statistical models in which the value of a parameter for a given value of a factor is assumed to be equal to a + bx, where a and b are constants. The models predict a linear regression.

Improvement in the quality of an x-ray image by use of an intensifying screen, tube, or filter and by optimum exposure techniques. Digital processing methods are often employed.

A theorem in probability theory named for Thomas Bayes (1702-1761). In epidemiology, it is used to obtain the probability of disease in a group of people with some characteristic on the basis of the overall rate of that disease and of the likelihood of that characteristic in healthy and diseased individuals. The most familiar application is in clinical decision analysis where it is used for estimating the probability of a particular diagnosis given the appearance of some symptoms or test result.

An extraction method that separates analytes using a solid phase and a liquid phase. It is used for preparative sample cleanup before analysis by CHROMATOGRAPHY and other analytical methods.

Thin strands of transparent material, usually glass, that are used for transmitting light waves over long distances.

A rare metal element with a blue-gray appearance and atomic symbol Ge, atomic number 32, and atomic weight 72.63.

Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.

The narrow passage way that conducts the sound collected by the EAR AURICLE to the TYMPANIC MEMBRANE.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Use of a device (film badge) for measuring exposure of individuals to radiation. It is usually made of metal, plastic, or paper and loaded with one or more pieces of x-ray film.

Chemical analysis based on the phenomenon whereby light, passing through a medium with dispersed particles of a different refractive index from that of the medium, is attenuated in intensity by scattering. In turbidimetry, the intensity of light transmitted through the medium, the unscattered light, is measured. In nephelometry, the intensity of the scattered light is measured, usually, but not necessarily, at right angles to the incident light beam.

The spontaneous transformation of a nuclide into one or more different nuclides, accompanied by either the emission of particles from the nucleus, nuclear capture or ejection of orbital electrons, or fission. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Drugs intended for human or veterinary use, presented in their finished dosage form. Included here are materials used in the preparation and/or formulation of the finished dosage form.

An analytical method used in determining the identity of a chemical based on its mass using mass analyzers/mass spectrometers.

The chemical and physical integrity of a pharmaceutical product.

An increase in the rate of speed.

The condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.

The development and use of techniques and equipment to study or perform chemical reactions, with small quantities of materials, frequently less than a milligram or a milliliter.

The visual display of data in a man-machine system. An example is when data is called from the computer and transmitted to a CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY or LIQUID CRYSTAL display.

Measuring instruments for determining the temperature of matter. Most thermometers used in the field of medicine are designed for measuring body temperature or for use in the clinical laboratory. (From UMDNS, 1999)

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

A technique of inputting two-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer.

Application of statistical procedures to analyze specific observed or assumed facts from a particular study.

Agents that emit light after excitation by light. The wave length of the emitted light is usually longer than that of the incident light. Fluorochromes are substances that cause fluorescence in other substances, i.e., dyes used to mark or label other compounds with fluorescent tags.

The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality.

Laboratory tests demonstrating the presence of physiologically significant substances in the blood, urine, tissue, and body fluids with application to the diagnosis or therapy of disease.

An examination of chemicals in the blood.

Materials used as reference points for imaging studies.

The specialty of ANALYTIC CHEMISTRY applied to assays of physiologically important substances found in blood, urine, tissues, and other biological fluids for the purpose of aiding the physician in making a diagnosis or following therapy.

X-ray image-detecting devices that make a focused image of body structures lying in a predetermined plane from which more complex images are computed.

A specialized field of physics and engineering involved in studying the behavior and properties of light and the technology of analyzing, generating, transmitting, and manipulating ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet range.

Making measurements by the use of stereoscopic photographs.

The study of chemical changes resulting from electrical action and electrical activity resulting from chemical changes.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.

That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum usually sensed as heat. Infrared wavelengths are longer than those of visible light, extending into the microwave frequencies. They are used therapeutically as heat, and also to warm food in restaurants.

The branch of physics that deals with sound and sound waves. In medicine it is often applied in procedures in speech and hearing studies. With regard to the environment, it refers to the characteristics of a room, auditorium, theatre, building, etc. that determines the audibility or fidelity of sounds in it. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Solid dosage forms, of varying weight, size, and shape, which may be molded or compressed, and which contain a medicinal substance in pure or diluted form. (Dorland, 28th ed)

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of biological processes or diseases. For disease models in living animals, DISEASE MODELS, ANIMAL is available. Biological models include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Methods for assessing flow through a system by injection of a known quantity of an indicator, such as a dye, radionuclide, or chilled liquid, into the system and monitoring its concentration over time at a specific point in the system. (From Dorland, 28th ed)