| assisted circulation | Pumping that aids the natural activity of the heart. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| assisted mechanical ventilation | <anaesthetics> The use of a mechanical device to fill the lungs with oxygenated air then allow time for passive exhalation. (27 Sep 1997) |
| assisted reproductive technology | Originally, a range of techniques for manipulating eggs and sperm in order to overcome infertility. Encompasses drug treatments to stimulate ovulation; surgical methods for removing eggs (e.g., laparoscopy and ultrasound-guided transvaginal aspiration) and for reimplanting embryos (e.g., zygot intrafallopian transfer (or ZIFT); in vitro and in vivo fertilization (e.g., artificial insemination and gamete intrafallopian transfer (or GIFT); ex utero and in utero foetal surgery; as well as laboratory regimes for freezing and screening sperm and embryos, and micromanipulating and cloning embryos. The field's first major success came in 1978 with the birth of "test-tube baby" Louise Brown, engineered by Steptoe, Edwards, et al., of England. As the technologies spread, they increasingly are being employed for purposes beyond infertility, i.e., to reduce the risk of, or avoid passing on, hereditary disease and to select for infant sex. Further uses that would aim at improving the "quality" of offspring have been widely discussed and raise profound legal and ethical questions. See: eugenics. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assisted respiration | Application of mechanically or manually generated positive pressure to gas(es) in or about the airway during inhalation as a means of augmenting movement of gases into the lungs. Synonym: assisted respiration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assisted ventilation | Application of mechanically or manually generated positive pressure to gas(es) in or about the airway during inhalation as a means of augmenting movement of gases into the lungs. Synonym: assisted respiration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assistive device | Any device that is designed, made, or adapted to assist a person perform a particular task. For examples, canes, crutches, walkers, wheel chairs, and shower chairs are all assistive devices. (12 Dec 1998) |
| assistive movement | In massage, a movement which the partially paralysed muscle of the patient would be unable to perform unaided but which is effected with the graduated assistance of the operator. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Assmann's tuberculous infiltrate | An incipient lesion of tuberculous infection. Synonym: Assmann's tuberculous infiltrate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Assmann, Herbert | <person> German internist, 1882-1950. See: Assmann's tuberculous infiltrate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| associable | 1. Capable of being associated or joined. "We know feelings to be associable only by the proved ability of one to revive another." (H. Spencer) 2. Sociable; companionable. 3. <medicine> Liable to be affected by sympathy with other parts; said of organs, nerves, muscles, etc. "The stomach, the most associable of all the organs of the animal body." Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| associate | 1. Closely connected or joined with some other, as in interest, purpose, employment, or office; sharing responsibility or authority; as, an associate judge. "While I descend . . . To my associate powers." (Milton) 2. Admitted to some, but not to all, rights and privileges; as, an associate member. 3. <physiology> Connected by habit or sympathy; as, associate motions, such as occur sympathetically, in consequence of preceding motions. Origin: L. Associatus, p. P. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| associated | Joined as a companion; brought into association; accompanying; combined. <physiology> Associated movements, consensual movements which accompany voluntary efforts without our consciousness. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| associated antagonist | One of two muscles or groups of muscles which pull in nearly opposite directions, but which, when acting together, move the part in a path between their diverging lines of action. (05 Mar 2000) |
| associated macrophage | A mature macrophage in an active metabolic state that is cytotoxic to tumour/target cells, usually following exposure to certain cytokines. (05 Mar 2000) |
| associated movements | Normal involuntary limp movements that accompany voluntary movement, e.g., arm swing with walking. (05 Mar 2000) |