The Importance Of Biomedical Screening

Biomedical testing is a vital part of the healthcare system. It is used to diagnose disease and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment through the analysis of fluids, and tissue sample from the patient. (Cunningham & Pitt, 2009). Biomedical testing is a rising field of modern medicine within 70% of diagnoses based on the pathology result provided by laboratory services. With biomedical scientists having an estimated 150 million samples in the United Kingdom (UK) every person at some point in their lives will have been advised from their services. (May, n.d.)

Biomedical screening is the process of recognizing healthy people who may be at enlarged risk of disease. (NHS "Heart attack", n.d.), After screening further information tests or treatment

This can be very life threatening and may seriously damage the heart muscle. There are different types of biomedical tests to find out the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. One of which is blood tests to check for heart muscle cell damage, this is usually done using a high sensitivity troponin which is a cardiac and skeletal muscle protein that is used in the laboratory diagnosis of heart attack. They are classed as cardiac markers; troponin I and Troponin T, however they are both sensitive and specific indicators of damage to the heart muscle known as myocardium, they may be measured in the blood to differentiate between unstable angina and heart attack in people with chest pain or acute coronary syndrome. An example a person who may have experienced a myocardial infarction freshly would have an area of damaged heart muscle and raised cardiac troponin levels in the blood. A blood sample is usually taken from the patient, then delivered to the specific laboratory where the sample is tested. Troponin is usually released by damaged heart cells during a heart attack, therefore it can help detect the severity of the myocardial infarction. Blood tests can also be done to measure the level of other substances in the blood, e.g. blood

The electrical activity of the heart is conducted by the surrounding fluids and tissues to the surface of the body. These weak electrical impulses can be detected, amplified and recorded by placing electrodes on the patient’s skin. The standard ECG calls for placements of electrodes or leads on the limbs or surface of the chest wall over the heart, this is because by placing positive electrodes in various positions relative to negative and ground electrodes the electrical activity of the hearts conduction system can be analyzed from a variety of vantage points. The normal electrocardiogram is useful in detecting abnormalities, the extent and location of ischemic myocardial damage, and the effects of therapy. However, ECG cannot measure the pumping ability of the heart, therefore a normal ECG tracing can be obtained from the patient in shock with poor cardiac output, but in addition, it can also not predict the onset of myocardial ischemic problems. The machine is usually accompanied by a doctor to diagnose a heart attack, abnormal heart rhythms ‘arrhythmias’, myocardial ischemia and infarction. Blood pressure monitoring is also done in non-biomedical testing, this is when the doctor arranges the patient to wear a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours, which can pass on accurate information about your blood pressure to your doctor,