| artificial | Made by art, not natural or pathological. Origin: L. Ars = art, facere = to make (18 Nov 1997) |
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| artificial active immunity | See: acquired immunity. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial anatomy | The manufacture of models of anatomic structures, or the study of anatomy from such models. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial ankylosis | <orthopaedics> The surgical immobilisation of a joint (joint fusion). (27 Sep 1997) |
| artificial anus | An opening into the bowel, usually in the right or left flank, as a result of a colostomy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial Carlsbad salt | A mixture of potassium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and dried sodium sulfate; a laxative. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial classification | <zoology> Classification based on convenient or conspicuous diagnostic characters without attention to characters indicating relationship, often a classification based on a single arbitrarily chosen character, rather than an evaluation of the totality of characters. (09 Jan 1998) |
| artificial crown | A fixed restoration of the major part of the entire coronal part of a natural tooth; usually of gold, porcelain, or acrylic resin. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial dentition | <dentistry> A synthetic replacement for all of your teeth in either your upper or your lower jaw. (08 Jan 1998) |
| artificial eye | A curved disk of opaque glass or plastic, containing an imitation iris and pupil in the centre, inserted beneath the eyelids and supported by the orbital contents after evisceration or enucleation; it may be ready-made (stock) or custom-made. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial fever | 1. Obsolete synonym for pyrotherapy. 2. Treatment of fever. Synonym: artificial fever, induced fever. Origin: pyreto-+ G. Therapeia, treatment (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial heart | A mechanical pump used to replace the function of a damaged heart, either temporarily or as a permanent prosthesis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial heart valve | <cardiology> A synthetic or porcine (pigskin) valve surgically placed into the heart to replace a defective or malfunctioning valve. The aortic and mitral valves are the most frequently replaced with artificial valves. (27 Sep 1997) |
| artificial insemination | <gynaecology> The placement of a sperm sample inside the female reproductive tract to improve the female's chances of getting pregnant. (See also intracervical insemination, intrauterine insemination, intratubal insemination). (09 Oct 1997) |
| artificial intelligence | In a nutshell, artificial intellence (AI) is the study of how to create acomputer that can think like a human being. See also expert systems and machine learning. (09 Oct 1997) |
| cardiac pacing, artificial | Regulation of the rate of contraction of the heart muscles by an artificial pacemaker. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| pacemaker, artificial | A device designed to stimulate, by electric impulses, contraction of the heart muscles. It may be temporary (external) or permanent (internal or internal-external). (12 Dec 1998) |
| pancreas, artificial | Devices for simulating the activity of the pancreas. They can be either electromechanical, consisting of a glucose sensor, computer, and insulin pump or bioartificial, consisting of isolated islets of langerhans in an artificial membrane. (12 Dec 1998) |
| membranes, artificial | Artificially produced membranes, such as semipermeable membranes used in artificial kidney dialysis, monomolecular and bimolecular membranes used as models to simulate biological membranes. These membranes are also used in the process of guided tissue regeneration. (12 Dec 1998) |
| chromosomes, yeast artificial | Chromosomes in which fragments of exogenous DNA ranging in length up to several hundred kilobase pairs have been cloned into yeast through ligation to vector sequences. These artificial chromosomes are used extensively in molecular biology for the construction of comprehensive genomic libraries of higher organisms. (12 Dec 1998) |
| pneumoperitoneum, artificial | Deliberate introduction of air into the peritoneal cavity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| pneumothorax, artificial | Injection of air or a more slowly absorbed gas such as nitrogen, into the pleural space to collapse the lung. It was formerly used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. (12 Dec 1998) |
| heart, artificial | A pumping mechanism that duplicates the output, rate, and blood pressure of the natural heart. It may replace the function of the entire heart or a portion of it, and may be an intracorporeal, extracorporeal, or paracorporeal heart. (12 Dec 1998) |
| saliva, artificial | A solution used for irrigating the mouth in xerostomia and as a substitute for saliva. (12 Dec 1998) |
| skin, artificial | Synthetic material used for the treatment of burns and other conditions involving large-scale loss of skin. It often consists of an outer (epidermal) layer of silicone and an inner (dermal) layer of collagen and chondroitin 6-sulfate. The dermal layer elicits new growth and vascular invasion and the outer layer is later removed and replaced by a graft. (12 Dec 1998) |
| insemination, artificial | Artificial introduction of semen into the vagina for the purpose of inducing conception. (12 Dec 1998) |
| insemination, artificial, heterologous | Human artificial insemination in which the semen used is that of a man other than the woman's husband. (12 Dec 1998) |
| insemination, artificial, homologous | Human artificial insemination in which the husband's semen is used. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth, artificial | A fabricated tooth substituting for a natural tooth in a prosthesis. It is usually made of porcelain or plastic. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Jarvik artificial heart | A pneumatic artificial heart. (05 Mar 2000) |