ECHOCARDIOGRAM
An echocardiogram - also called a Doppler, heart ultrasound or “echo” - is a noninvasive test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. Just as a baby in the mother’s uterus can be visualized with ultrasound, pictures of the heart can help doctors evaluate the heart’s structures, including the muscles and valves. Doctors may be able to see a hole in the wall that divides the left and right sides of the heart or a deformity of a heart valve, for example, as well as the following:
The motion of the muscular walls in the heart’s lower chambers (ventricles) provides insight into the heart’s pumping power.
The flow of blood within the heart, which can be seen on a color Doppler echocardiogram, helps doctors identify and assess such abnormalities as a leaky heart valve.
Pressure differences between one part of the heart and another can help detect heart muscle or valve problems.
CARDIAC STRESS TESING
If your doctor suspects you may have blockages in the coronary arteries that supply blood to your heart or other heart problems, you may be scheduled for a stress test. This test, sometimes called an exercise stress test, measures how well your heart functions when it has to work harder.
VASCULAR ULTRASOUND IMAGING
An ultrasound test allows your physician to see blockages or narrowing in your blood vessels. When performed in the arteries of the body other than heart, ultrasound is called Vascular US. Duplex ultrasound can generate images of the walls of a blood vessel as well as measure the rate at which blood is flowing through a vessel.
PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTING
Pulmonary function tests are a group of tests that measure breathing and how well the lungs are functioning.
Spirometry measures airflow. By measuring how much air you exhale, and how quickly you exhale, spirometry can evaluate a broad range of lung diseases. In a spirometry test, while you are sitting, you breathe into a mouthpiece that is connected to an instrument called a spirometer. The spirometer records the amount and the rate of air that you breathe in and out over a period of time.
