Topic 7 Laboratory Diagnosis: Principles and Tools

In recent times, some of the more “traditional” approaches to medical diagnosis have been altered:

  1. Sight \(\rightarrow\) CT Scans, X-rays, and MRIs
  2. Smell \(\rightarrow\) Lab tests
  3. Asking \(\rightarrow\) medical history and records
  4. Pulse \(\rightarrow\) blood pressure tests, ECGs, and glucose meters

However, when one tests for an infectious disease, they may test for one of the following markers:

  1. Pathogenic organism
  2. Proteins (either from the pathogen or the host)
  3. Bioactivity from the pathogen
  4. Metabolites from the pathogen or the host
  5. Pathogen’s nucleic acids

Microscopy, culturing, immunological tests, susceptibility tests, nucleic acid-based tests, and other tests such as the E-nose test for volatiles can all aid in the above.