Diagnostic

Diagnostic is a term used in medicine to refer to the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs. It is most often referred to as diagnosis with the medical context being implicit. The information required for diagnosis is typically collected from a history and physical examination of the person seeking medical care.

History

Often, one or more diagnostic procedures, such as diagnostic tests, are also done during the process. Sometimes posthumous diagnosis is considered a kind of medical diagnosis.

Diagnostic methods

Diagnostic methods are the techniques that the healthcare provider uses to understand the patient's condition or disorder. Diagnostic methods include questioning the patient about his or her personal and family medical history, physical examination, and going through the patient's symptoms. It also includes the laboratory tests, imaging studies, and biopsy.

Diagnostic tests

Diagnostic tests are procedures performed to confirm, or determine the presence of disease in an individual suspected of having the disease, usually following the report of symptoms, or based on the results of other medical tests.

Diagnostic imaging

Diagnostic imaging is the technique and process of creating visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues.

Diagnostic criteria

Diagnostic criteria, also known as clinical case definitions, are the standard used in epidemiology, public health, and clinical medicine to determine whether or not a person has a certain disease or condition.

Diagnostic models

Diagnostic models are used to select one or more diagnostic tests/procedures to be used to achieve the final diagnosis in the patient. The representation and inference process used in the construction of the diagnostic model will contribute to the form of the final diagnostic model.

See also

• Medical diagnosis
• Differential diagnosis
• List of diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry

References

Diagnostic Resources
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