Sampling (medicine)

In medicine, sampling is gathering of matter from the body to aid in the process of a medical diagnosis and/or evaluation of an indication for treatment, further medical tests or other procedures. In this sense, the sample is the gathered matter, and the sampling tool or sampler is the person or material to collect the sample. Sampling is a prerequisite for many medical tests, but generally not for medical history, physical examination and radiologic tests. Obtaining excretions or materials that leave the body anyway, such as urine, stool, sputum, or vomitus, by direct collection as they exit. A sample of saliva can also be collected from the mouth. Excision (cutting out), a surgical method for the removal of solid or soft tissue samples. Puncture (also called centesis) followed by aspiration is the main method used for sampling of many types of tissues and body fluids. Examples are thoracocentesis to sample pleural fluid, and amniocentesis to sample amniotic fluid. The main method of centesis, in turn, is fine needle aspiration, but there are also somewhat differently designed needles, such as for bone marrow aspiration. Puncture without aspiration may suffice in, for example, capillary blood sampling. Scraping or swiping. In a Pap test, cells are scraped off a uterine cervix with a special spatula and brush or a special broom device that is inserted through a vagina without having to puncture any tissue. Epithelial cells for DNA testing can be obtained by swiping the inside of a cheek in a mouth with a swab. In terms of sampling technique, a biopsy generally refers to a preparation where the normal tissue structure is preserved, availing for examination of both individual cells and their organization for the study of histology, while a sample for cytopathology is prepared primarily for the examination of individual cells, not necessarily preserving the tissue structure. Examples of biopsy procedures are bone marrow biopsy, brain biopsy, skin biopsy and liver biopsy.