Medical Equipment Glossary

A breathing circuit used in anesthesia, which is shaped like the letter "T". The exhaled gases are passed into a reservoir tube from which they are pushed by fresh gas from the anesthetic machine as it passes from the stem to the other arm of the T during expiration. There are no valves.

Medical equipment which monitors the remote measurement and transmission of patient data via a telecommunications system to a provider's site for analysis and decision making.

The electronic transmission of radiological images from one location to another for the purposes of interpretation and/or consultation.

A device that measures temperature or using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor in which some physical change occurs with temperature, plus a means of converting this physical change to a measurable value. Thermometers increasingly use electronic means to provide a digital display or input to a computer.

Operative care of patients with conditions within the chest, including coronary artery disease, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, heart valve and major vessel abnormalities.

Tissue dissection is a general medical term for the process of cutting apart or separating tissue in a surgical procedure. The process includes a careful operation which removes some structures but preserves others. For example, the removal of cancerous tissue, as in the separation of tissue during a breast biopsy or mastectomy, is a type of tissue dissection. See also: dissection

Also referred to as a tracheostomy, this term refers to an incision made through through the neck into the windpipe to create a temporary outside opening in order to bypass the mouth and throat which is made when the upper airway is blocked.

A drug that depresses the central nervous system causing relaxation, reduction of anxiety, drowsiness and slowed breathing.

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, photelectric cell, automobile horn, doorbell, and underwater soundtransducer.

Concerned with the treatment of wounds and injuries through surgical methods.

Also known as an "exercise stress test," this term refers to a test which is performed to determine irregular heart rhythms which may occur during exercise.

A position in which the patient is on his back with the head and chest lowered and the legs elevated.