1.

Kymograph

Mechanism of Function: A kymograph is a device that graphically records changes in
position over time, and is most commonly used to record changes in pressure or motion.
The kymograph consists of a drum to which a stylus is attached. The stylus records the
changes on a paper wrapped around the drum as the drum revolves. The term kymograph
comes from Latin and translates as "wave writer," referring to the graphical record
produced by the instrument, where the stylus traces a pattern of the changes as they
occur. This record provides a representation of changes over time, with time intervals
usually marked on the paper. The graphic record generated by the kymograph instrument
is commonly translated into a graph, showing changes in pressure or motion on the
horizontal x-axis, and time elapsed on the vertical y-axis.

Importance: Since its invention in the 1800s, the kymograph has been used most
commonly in the field of medicine to study various physiological and muscular
processes, for example blood pressure, respiration and muscle contractions. It has also
been used to analyze other phenomena like atmospheric pressure, speech sounds,
and tuning fork vibrations.

Reference: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-kymograph.htm

2. Sphygmomanometer

Mechanism of Function: A sphygmomanometer is a device that measures blood pressure.
It is composes of an inflatable rubber cuff, which is wrapped around the arm. A
measuring device indicates the cuff's pressure. A bulb inflates the cuff and a valve
releases pressure. A stethoscope is used to listen to arterial blood flow sounds. As the
heart beats, blood forced through the arteries cause a rise in pressure, called systolic
pressure, followed by a decrease in pressure as the heart's ventricles prepare for another
beat. This low pressure is called the diastolic pressure.

Importance: A sphygmomanometer is used to establish a baseline at a healthcare
encounter and on admission to a hospital. Checking blood pressure is also performed to
monitor the effectiveness of medication and other methods to control hypertension, and
as a diagnostic aid to detect various diseases and abnormalities.

Reference: http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Pa-
St/Sphygmomanometer.html#ixzz3AH8HlMad
http://www.practicalclinicalskills.com/sphygmomanometer.aspx

3. Stethoscope

Mechanism of Function: Stethoscopes vary in their design and material. Most are made
of Y-shaped rubber tubing. This shape allows sounds to enter the device at one end,
travel up the tubes and through to the ear pieces. Many stethoscopes have a two-sided
sound-detecting device or head that listeners can reverse, depending on whether they
need to hear high or low frequencies. Some newer models have only one pressure-
sensitive head. The various types of instruments include: binaural stethoscopes, designed
for use with both ears; single stethoscopes, designed for use with one ear; differential
stethoscopes, which allow listeners to compare sounds at two different body sites; and
electronic stethoscopes, which electronically amplify tones. Some stethoscopes are
designed specifically for hearing sounds in the esophagus or fetal heartbeats.

Importance: A stethoscope is used to detect and study heart, lung, stomach, and other
sounds in adult humans, human fetuses, and animals. Using a stethoscope, the listener
can hear normal and abnormal respiratory, cardiac, pleural, arterial, venous,
uterine, fetal and intestinal sounds.

Reference: http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/St-
Wr/Stethoscope.html#ixzz3AH96l5e7

4. Spirometer

Mechanism of Function: A spirometer is the standard equipment used to measure the
capacity of the human lungs. There are several versions of this laboratory apparatus
available, but all consist of a chamber (of capacity approximately 6 dm
3
) suspended
freely over water and counterbalanced so that gas passed in or drawn out makes the
chamber rise or fall. You can make a permanent record of the movements of the chamber
either by attaching a pen to it and allowing it to write on a drum revolving slowly
(kymograph) or by attaching a motion sensor which will convert movement into
electronic signals that are then interpreted by your datalogging software.

Importance: A spirometer measures ventilation, the movement of air into and out of the
lungs. The spirogram will identify two different types of abnormal ventilation patterns,
obstructive and restrictive.

Reference: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-biology/using-spirometer-
investigate-human-lung-function
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirometer

5. Urinometer

Mechanism of Function: A urinometer is a type of hydrometer. It compares the weight of
urine to an equal volume of water to measure the specific density. The urinometer is
placed in a measuring cylinder full of urine. It floats because the urine is denser than the
mercury. The level the urinometer floats at is read off the scale. This is used to diagnose
illness.

Importance: A Urinometer is a simple piece of equipment for determining urine specific
gravity. A urinometer is typically used in medical diagnostic labs.

Reference:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=92225
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinometer

6. Clinical Thermometer

Mechanism of Function: A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or
a temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two
important elements: the temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb on a mercury-in-glass
thermometer) in which some physical change occurs with temperature, plus some means
of converting this physical change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale that is
marked on a mercury-in-glass thermometer).

Importance: Medical thermometers such as mercury-in-glass thermometers, infrared
thermometers, pill thermometers, and liquid crystal thermometers are used in health
care settings to determine if individuals have a fever or are hypothermic.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermometer

7. Knee-Reflex Hammer

Mechanism of Function: The Taylor hammer is usually held at the end by the physician,
and the entire device is swung in an arc-like motion onto the tendon in question. The
Queen Square and Babinski hammers are usually held perpendicular to the tendon in
question, and are passively swung with gravityassistance onto the tendon. The Jendrassik
maneuver, which entails interlocking of flexed fingers to distract a patient and prime the
reflex response, can also be used to accentuate reflexes. In cases of hyperreflexia, the
physician may place his finger on top of the tendon, and tap the finger with the hammer.
Sometimes a reflex hammer may not be necessary to elicit hyperreflexia, with finger
tapping over the tendon being sufficient as a stimulus.


Importance: A reflex hammer is a medical instrument used by physicians to test
deep tendon reflexes. Testing for reflexes is an important part of the neurological
physical examination in order to detect abnormalities in the central or peripheral nervous
system.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_hammer

8. Tuning Fork

Mechanism of Function:
Webers Test
Strike the 512Hz tuning fork lightly on your elbow or knee (so that you can barely hear it
at arms length) and place the base of the lightly vibrating tuning fork firmly on the
forehead (or any bone prominence in the midline of the skull equidistant from both
ears). Contrary to the image the prongs of the tuning fork should strictly be in line
vertically (i.e. one on top of each other) when used in this test. A normal result is when
the patient can hear the tuning fork tone in both ears equally. An abnormal result is when
the patient can hear the tuning fork tone in one ear more than the other.

Rinnes Test
Again strike the tuning fork lightly and then place the base of the tuning fork firmly on
the bone of the mastoid on one side. Be sure to place the fork directly on the bone rather
than on the tissues surrounding it. Once the patient can hear this, place the prongs of the
tuning fork 1 cm away from the external auditory canal and ask if the noise is louder
when placed against the bone or when held up next to the ear. A normal test is when the
patient can hear the tuning fork easier when held 1 cm from the EAC rather than when
placed on the bone.

Importance: Tuning forks, usually C512, are used by medical practitioners to assess a
patient's hearing. This is most commonly done with two exams called the Weber
test and Rinne test, respectively. Lower-pitched ones (usually C128) are also used to
check vibration sense as part of the examination of the peripheral nervous system.

Reference: http://www.clinicaljunior.com/enttuningforktests.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuning_fork#Uses

9. Flashlight

Mechanism of Function: A flashlight (North America; torch elsewhere) is a hand-held
portable electrically-powered light source. Usually the light source is a smallincandescent
light bulb or light-emitting diode (LED). A typical flashlight consists of a light bulb
mounted in a reflector, a transparent cover (sometimes combined with a lens) to protect
the light source and reflector, a battery, and a switch. These are supported and protected
by a case.

Importance: Medical flashlights should be small, compact and easy to carry around. As a
doctor, you'll be walking from building to building and room to room, so having a
flashlight you can easily pull out and use to diagnose someone is crucial. You will need
to make sure the light is strong enough that you can actually see down someone's throat
and that the flashlight itself lasts quite a long time.

Reference: http://www.livestrong.com/article/243536-the-best-flashlights-for-medical-
use/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight#Applications

10. Microscope

Mechanism of Function:
1. Always start with the scanning objective. Odds are, you will be able to see something
on this setting. Use the Coarse Knob to focus, image may be small at this magnification,
but you won't be able to find it on the higher powers without this first step. Do not use
stage clips, try moving the slide around until you find something.
2. Once you've focused on Scanning, switch to Low Power. Use the Coarse Knob to
refocus. Again, if you haven't focused on this level, you will not be able to move to the
next level.
3. Now switch to High Power. At this point, ONLY use the Fine Adjustment Knob to
focus specimens.
4. If the specimen is too light or too dark, try adjusting the diaphragm.
5. If you see a line in your viewing field, try twisting the eyepiece, the line should move.
That's because its a pointer, and is useful for pointing out things to your lab partner or
teacher.

Importance: The invention of the microscope has opened up a whole new dimension in
science. By using microscopes scientists were able to discover the existence of
microorganisms, study the structure of cells, and see the smallest parts of plants, animals,
and fungi. Today, the microscope is still a commonly used tool to diagnosis illness in
hospitals and clinics all over the world.

Reference:http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073031216/student_view0/exercise2/t
he_importance_of_microscopes.html
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/microscope_use.html

11. Glass Slide and Coverslip

Mechanism of Function: Microscope slides are often used together with a cover slip or
cover glass, a smaller and thinner sheet of glass that is placed over the specimen. Slides
are held in place on the microscope's stage by slide clips, slide clamps or a cross-table
which is used to achieve precise, remote movement of the slide upon the microscope's
stage (such as in an automated / computer operated system, or where touching the slide
with fingers is inappropriate either due to the risk of contamination or lack of precision)

Importance: Both secure a certain specimen or substance that is going to undergo
observation with the use of a microscope.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope_slide

12. Petri Dish

Mechanism of Function: Petri dishes are often used to make agar plates for microbiology
studies. The dish is partially filled with warm liquid containing agar and a mixture of
specific ingredients that may include nutrients, blood, salts, carbohydrates, dyes,
indicators, amino acids and antibiotics. Once the agar cools and solidifies, the dish is
ready to be inoculated ("plated") with a microbe-laden sample. Virus or phage cultures
require a two-stage inoculation: after the agar preparation, bacteria are grown in the dish
to provide hosts for the viral inoculum.

Importance: Petri dishes are also used for eukaryotic cell culture in a liquid medium or on
solid agar. Empty Petri dishes may be used to observe plant germination, the behavior of
very small animals or for other day-to-day laboratory practices such as drying fluids in an
oven and carrying or storing samples.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_dish












1. KYMOGRAPH


2. SPHYGMOMANOMETER


3. STETHOSCOPE

4. SPIROMETER


5. URINOMETER


6. CLINICAL THERMOMETER


7. KNEE-REFLEX HAMMER



8. TUNING FORK


9. FLASHLIGHT


10. MICROSCOPE





11. GLASS SLIDE AND COVERSLIP


12. PETRI DISH