A colposcopy is a diagnostic procedure in which a physician, nurse practitioner (NP), nurse-midwife, or physician assistant (PA) uses a special microscope, called a colposcope, to look at the surface of a woman’s cervix. Colposcopy may be performed when the results of a cervical cancer screening...
Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a noninvasive therapy that uses pulses of high-energy shock waves to treat several conditions that cause severe heel pain, including chronic plantar fasciitis. The therapy is designed for adult patients who have had symptoms for a minimum of six months...
Orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) is the allied health profession that provides evaluation, fabrication, and custom fitting of orthopedic braces and artificial limbs. An orthotics practitioner provides or manages the provision of an external orthopedic appliance such as a brace or a splint...
Lasers are used in a variety of medical and surgical procedures to cut or destroy abnormal or diseased tissue, tumors, and lesions, or to seal blood vessels. They are also used in cosmetic surgery. Numerous medical fields, including cardiology, dermatology, gynecology, neurosurgery,...
Advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology is a subspecialty certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). According to ABIM, this certification encompasses the specialized knowledge and skills required of cardiologists for evaluating and optimally managing heart failure...
Blood banking/transfusion medicine can be found in virtually all acute care settings. According to the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, published by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), some hospitals have board-certified physician specialists in transfusion medicine who...
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure involving implantation of electrodes into deep nuclei of the brain. A surgically implanted, battery-operated device delivers electrical stimulation to targeted areas in the brain that control movement, blocking abnormal nerve signals that...
According to the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology (CBNC) and other medical associations, nuclear cardiology is a subspecialty of cardiology in which radioisotopes are used in conjunction with a range of noninvasive nuclear imaging techniques to diagnose cardiovascular disease and to...
A sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) serves as a viable alternative to axillary dissection to help prevent the regional recurrence of breast cancer when cancer cells migrate to nearby lymph nodes. During an SLNB procedure, a surgeon injects a radioactive substance or dye (or both) near the tumor...
According to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), a radiologist is a physician who uses imaging methodologies to diagnose and manage patients and provide therapeutic options.
