We are able to examine our patient’s serum and every other body fluid down to the level of individual nucleotides, as well as being able to perform precise imaging through CT, MRI and other imaging technologies. The problem we have all faced, especially as senior medical students or junior doctors is: which test should we use in a given setting? What hazards are associated with the tests? Are there any situations where specific tests should not be used or are likely to produce erroneous results? As medical complexity increases so too does cost; many assays available today are highly expensive and wherever possible we would ideally like to use a test which is cheap, reliable, reproducible and right for a given situation. Modern medicine is highly complex and investigations are a key part of the diagnostic process. With major advances in technology there are thousands of clinical and laboratory tests available.
