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In medicine and medical statistics, the gold standard, criterion standard, [1] or reference standard [2] is the diagnostic test or benchmark that is the best available under reasonable conditions. [3] It is the test against which new tests are compared to gauge their validity, and it is used to evaluate the efficacy of treatments. [1]
The method of differential diagnosis is based on finding as many candidate diseases or conditions as possible that can possibly cause the signs or symptoms, followed by a process of elimination or at least of rendering the entries more or less probable by further medical tests and other processing, aiming to reach the point where only one ...
A medical test is a medical procedure performed to detect, diagnose, or monitor diseases, disease processes, susceptibility, or to determine a course of treatment. Medical tests such as, physical and visual exams, diagnostic imaging, genetic testing, chemical and cellular analysis, relating to clinical chemistry and molecular diagnostics, are typically performed in a medical setting.
Because molecular diagnostics methods can detect sensitive markers, these tests are less intrusive than a traditional biopsy. For example, because cell-free nucleic acids exist in human plasma, a simple blood sample can be enough to sample genetic information from tumours, transplants or an unborn fetus.
General pathology methods are of great importance to biomedical research into disease, wherein they are sometimes referred to as "experimental" or "investigative" pathology. [ citation needed ] Medical imaging is the generating of visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention.
For drug development, the clinical phases start with testing for drug safety in a few human subjects, then expand to many study participants (potentially tens of thousands) to determine if the treatment is effective. [1] Clinical research is conducted on drug candidates, vaccine candidates, new medical devices, and new diagnostic assays.
There are several methods for differential diagnostic procedures and several variants among those. Furthermore, a differential diagnostic procedure can be used concomitantly or alternately with protocols, guidelines, or other diagnostic procedures (such as pattern recognition or using medical algorithms). [citation needed]
Sequencing is the only diagnostic method that will provide the full sequence of a virus genome. Hence, it provides the most information about very small differences between two viruses that would look the same using other diagnostic tests. Currently it is only used when this depth of information is required.