Sampling (medicine)

In medicine, sampling is gathering of matter from the body to aid in the process of a medical diagnosis and/or evaluation of an indication for treatment, further medical tests or other procedures. In this sense, the sample is the gathered matter, and the sampling tool or sampler is the person or material to collect the sample.

Sampling is a prerequisite for many medical tests, but generally not for medical history, physical examination and radiologic tests.

Contents 1 By types of sampled matter 1.1 Biopsy 1.2 Cytopathologic sampling 1.3 Body fluid sampling 1.4 Microbiological sampling 2 References

By types of sampled matter

Biopsy

A biopsy is the removal of tissues from the body, generally in the sense of solid or soft tissue targets.

Cytopathologic sampling

Cytopathologic sampling particularly involves gathering of cells to detect abnormalities, generally not preserving the normal tissue structure. Puncture (also called centesis) followed by aspiration is the main method used for cytopathologic sampling. The main method is fine needle aspiration, but there are also somewhat differently designed needles, such as for bone marrow aspiration.

Body fluid sampling

Body fluid sampling include:

• Blood sampling for any blood test, including:
  • Arterial blood sampling, such as by radial artery puncture
  • Capillary blood sampling, such as by using a blood lancet
  • Venous blood sampling, also called venipuncture

Blood sampling techniques include using a blood lancet,

• Lumbar puncture to sample cerebrospinal fluid
• Thoracocentesis to sample pleural fluid
• Amniocentesis to sample amniotic fluid

Microbiological sampling

Microbiological sampling include:

• Blood sampling for blood cultures, performed similarly as that for tests on the fluid itself above
• Throat swab for throat culture. It's performed by applying a cotton swab to the surface of the throat.
• Sampling of sputum from the lungs for sputum culture. It can be performed by special techniques of coughing, or by a protected specimen brush (PSB),^[1] which is a brush that can be retracted into a plastic tube to prevent contamination of bacteria in the throat while inserting and removing the instrument.

References