| balloon fish | <zoology> A fish of the genus Diodon or the genus Tetraodon, having the power of distending its body by taking air or water into its dilatable oesophagus. See Globefish, and Bur fish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| balloon sickness | A form of mountain sickness occurring in someone as a result of ascent in a balloon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| balloon-tip catheter | A tube with a balloon at its tip that can be inflated or deflated without removal after installation; the balloon may be inflated to facilitate passage of the tube through a blood vessel (propelled by the bloodstream) or to occlude the vessel in which the tube alone would allow free flow; such catheter's are used to enter the pulmonary artery to facilitate haemodynamic measurements or to enter arteries and then remove them while inflated to withdraw clots (embolectomy catheter). See: Swan-Ganz catheter. Synonym: Fogarty catheter. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballooning degeneration | A phenomenon observed especially in cells that are infected with certain viruses, resulting in conspicuous swelling of the cell and cytoplasmic vacuolation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballooning mode | <radiobiology> A mode which is localised in regions of unfavorable magnetic field curvature (bad curvature) and which becomes unstable when the force due to pressure gradients (grad p) is greater than the mean magnetic pressure force (grad B^2)/(8pi) in cgs units. (09 Oct 1997) |
| ballooning spider | <zoology> A spider which has the habit of rising into the air. Many kinds (especially. Species of Lycosa) do this while young by ejecting threads of silk until the force of the wind upon them carries the spider aloft. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| balloonseptostomy | Creation of an artificial interatrial septal defect by cardiac catheterization during which an inflated balloon is pulled across the interatrial septum through the foramen ovale; used in cases of transposition of the great vessels and tricuspid atresia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballottable | Capable of exhibiting the phenomenon of ballottement. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballottement | 1. Manoeuvre used in physical examination to estimate the size of an organ not near the surface, particularly when there is ascites, by a flicking motion of the hand or fingers similar to that of dribbling a basketball. 2. An obsolete method of diagnosis of pregnancy: with the tip of the forefinger in the vagina, a sharp tap is made against the lower segment of the uterus; the foetus, if present, is tossed upward and (if the finger is retained in place) will be felt to strike against the wall of the uterus as it falls back. Origin: Fr. Balloter, to toss up (05 Mar 2000) |