Laboratory and in-vitro diagnostics

4Kscore

The 4Kscore is a blood test combining four prostate-derived kallikrein biomarkers with age and exam findings to estimate the probability of aggressive prostate cancer on biopsy.

Abnormal coagulation profile (ICD-11 MA18.3) is a clinical finding of abnormal clotting tests, chiefly prolonged PT/INR, aPTT, low fibrinogen, or abnormal platelet count, reflecting factor deficiencies, inhibitors, liver disease, vitamin K deficiency, DIC, or anticoagulants.

Abnormal glucose tolerance test

Abnormal glucose tolerance test: an OGTT result above defined thresholds (2-h PG 140–199 mg/dL = IGT, ≥200 mg/dL = diabetes; pregnancy-specific one-step 75-g or two-step 100-g criteria for gestational diabetes).

Abnormal level of blood mineral

Abnormal level of blood mineral, ICD-11 code MA18.1, is a clinical finding of abnormally high or low blood mineral (cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc) levels, excluding neonatal hypomagnesaemia and nutritional mineral deficiency.

Abnormal serum enzyme levels

Abnormal serum enzyme levels: an ICD-11 Chapter 21 clinical finding of enzyme activity outside reference intervals, chiefly liver enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP), pancreatic amylase and lipase, CK, and AST/LDH, signaling tissue injury or disease.

Adrenal vein sampling

Adrenal vein sampling is an interventional radiology procedure that draws blood from the adrenal veins to determine which gland causes primary aldosteronism, guiding adrenalectomy; it has been used for over 50 years.

Advanced Animal Diagnostics

Advanced Animal Diagnostics is the company founded in 2001 by Rudy Rodriguez, an American biomedical engineer elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2016.

Agglutination test

An agglutination test is a diagnostic immunoassay in which antibodies cross-link antigen-bearing cells or particles into clumps visible by eye, used to detect antigens or antibodies in blood, urine, or saliva.

AIDS Serodiagnosis

AIDS serodiagnosis: laboratory and point-of-care diagnosis of HIV infection by antibody or p24 antigen testing, from the 1985 ELISA to fourth-generation Ag/Ab assays, CDC algorithms, and rapid-test sensitivity limits.

Alpha-fetoprotein (α-fetoprotein)

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a fetal liver and yolk sac glycoprotein used as a prenatal screening test and as a tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma and germ cell tumors, with surveillance cutoff 20 ng/mL and diagnosis now imaging-based.

Amniocentesis

Amniocentesis (also called amnio): ultrasound-guided withdrawal of amniotic fluid for fetal genetic diagnosis, performed from 15 weeks' gestation; procedure-related miscarriage risk about 0.11–0.35%, distinct from CVS and NIPT screening.

Anal Pap smear

An anal Pap smear is a screening test that swabs cells from the anal canal to detect anal precancer and cancer, analogous to the cervical Pap test.

Anion gap

Anion gap (serum anion gap): calculated as Na minus (Cl plus bicarbonate) from routine blood panels to estimate unmeasured anions; used mainly to classify metabolic acidosis as high-gap or normal-gap, with albumin correction and delta ratio refinements.

Anti-streptolysin O

Anti-streptolysin O, or ASO titer, is an antibody against a toxin of group A Streptococcus, measured by a blood test used to confirm recent streptococcal infection, especially rheumatic fever.

Antibiogram

An antibiogram is a periodic, cumulative summary of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results from a defined patient population, guiding empirical antibiotic therapy before individual susceptibility results are available.

Antibody test

An antibody test, also called a serological test, is a blood test that detects antibodies against a pathogen or antigen to show prior infection, immune response, or vaccination status.

Antifungal susceptibility testing

Antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) is a clinical microbiology laboratory method measuring how well antifungal drugs inhibit patient fungal isolates, usually reported as a minimum inhibitory concentration.

Antigen bead assay

An antigen bead assay is a multiplex immunoassay in which antigens are coupled to color-coded microspheres to detect and semi-quantify antibodies in serum, chiefly anti-HLA antibodies.

Antigen test

An antigen test is a rapid diagnostic test that detects viral proteins in nasal swabs, giving results in 10 to 30 minutes at home or point of care.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a laboratory method that measures how antimicrobial drugs inhibit a bacterial isolate, classifying it as susceptible or resistant to guide therapy.

Array comparative genomic hybridization

Array comparative genomic hybridization, or array CGH, is a cytogenetic method that detects DNA copy-number gains and losses genome-wide, with far finer resolution than karyotyping.

Arterial blood gas test

Arterial blood gas (ABG) test, also called blood gas analysis: an artery-drawn blood test measuring PaO2, PaCO2, pH, bicarbonate, and oxygen saturation; the reference standard for respiratory failure, with venous gas as a partial alternative.

Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index

The aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) is a noninvasive formula combining AST and platelet count to estimate liver fibrosis, reported in 2003.

Aspergillus galactomannan antigen test

The Aspergillus galactomannan antigen test, also called Galactomannan Antigen, is a sandwich immunoassay detecting Aspergillus antigen in serum or lung fluid to diagnose invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients.

Bacterial Typing Techniques

Bacterial typing techniques are laboratory procedures for distinguishing strains within a bacterial species, spanning phenotypic methods (serotyping, phage typing, biotyping) and genotypic methods (PFGE, MLST, WGS), used in outbreak investigation and surveillance.

Base excess

Base excess, also called base deficit or standard base excess, is a measure of the metabolic component of an acid–base disorder, reported with arterial blood gas results since 1960.

Basophil activation test

The basophil activation test is a flow cytometry blood test that diagnoses IgE-mediated allergy by measuring CD63 and CD203c activation on basophils exposed to a suspected allergen.

Bethesda assay

The Bethesda assay is a hematology laboratory mixing test that quantifies neutralizing antibodies against coagulation factor VIII, the reference method for measuring inhibitors in hemophilia A and acquired hemophilia.

Biodosimetry

Biodosimetry estimates a person's absorbed radiation dose by measuring biological markers, most often chromosome aberrations in blood lymphocytes, using calibration curves; the dicentric assay has been the gold standard since the mid-1960s.