General Medical / Radiology / Radiation Therapy Terminology

Medical Root Words
Diagnostic Radiology terminology
Radiation Therapy terminology

Position/orientation

anterior - front
posterior - rear
superior - above
inferior - below
deep - far from surface
superficial - close to surface
medial - closer to median plane (middle)
lateral - farther from median
proximal - closer to trunk or origin
distal - farther rom trun or origin
ipsilateral - same side
contralateral - opposite side
cranial - towards head
caudal - towards tail
supine - on back
prone - on belly

Movement

Flexion - decreases angle between bones at joint
Extension - increases angle between bones at joint
Abduction - movement away from median
Adduction - movement towards median
Supination - move palm face anterior
Pronation - move palm face posterior
Eversion - sole of foot out
Inversion - sole of foot in
Rotation - move around longitudinal axis
Circumduction - rotation at distal end in circle

Anatomical planes (imaging views)

Axial / transverse - divides the body into cranial and caudal portions
Coronal - divides the body into dorsal and ventral portions
Sagittal - divides the body into left and right portions

Basic structures

Integument - outer protective layer, skin
- Protection (UV, microoganisms, chemical, thermal)
- Sensations (pain, temperature, touch, pressure)
- Thermoregulation
- Metabolic (e.g. vitamin D synthesis)
Fascia - band/sheet of connective tissue
- Stabilizes muscles and organs
- Compartmentalizes - determines spread of infection and cancer
Bone - connective tissue, mineralized extracellular matrix with bone cells inside
- Structural framework
- Locomotion
- Calcium homeostasis
- Synthesis of blood cells
Joints - unions between bones, fibrous outer layer lined by serous synovial membrane
- Movement
- Stabilized by ligaments attached to other bones and tendons attached to muscles
Muscle - striated skeletal, striated cardiac, smooth muscle (walls of vessels and organs, viscera)
- Skeletal is voluntary, others are involuntary
- Locomotion
Circulatory system - cardiovascular and lymphatic systems to transport fluids through the body
- Cardiovascular - oxygen and nutrients (in blood) to tissues, and CO2 and waste from tissues
  - Exchanges in capillary beds
- Lymphatics - returns excess fluid, foreign microorganisms, large plasma and proteins, lipids, lymphocytes
  - Node filter cells, particulates, produce antibodies, initiate immune response
  - Right side to right lymphatic ducts
  - Left side to thoracic duct
    - Both sides then to venous system near right side of heart

Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning	Suffix	Meaning
-algia	pain	-rrhea	flow, discharge
-cele	hernia	-sclerosis	hardening
-centesis	surgical puncture to remove fluid	-scope	instrument for visual examination
-coccus	berry-shaped bacterium	-stasis	controlling, stopping
-cocci	plural bacteria	-stomy	opening to form a mouth (stoma)
-cyte	cell	-therapy	treatment
-dynia	pain	-tomy	incision, cutting into
-ectomy	excision, removal, resection	-trophy	development, nourishment
-emia	blood condition	-er	one who
-genesis	condition of producing, forming	-ia	condition
-gram	record	-ist	specialist
-graph	instrument for recording	-ole	little, small
-graphy	process of recording	-ule	little, small
-itis	inflammation	-um, -ium	structure, tissue
-logy	study of	-us	structure, substance
-lysis	breakdown, destruction, separation	-y	condition, process
-malacia	softening	-ac, -iac	pertaining to
-megaly	enlargement	-al	pertaining to
-oma	tumor, mass, collection of fluid	-ar	pertaining to
-opsy	to view	-ary	pertaining to
-osis	condition, usually abnormal	-eal	pertaining to
-pathy	disease condition	-genic	pertaining to, producing, produced by or in
-penia	deficiency	-ic, -ical	pertaining to
-phobia	fear	-oid	resembling, derived from
-plasia	development, formation, growth	-ose	pertaining to, full of
-plasty	surgical repair	-ous	pertaining to
-ptosis	drooping, falling, prolapse	-tic	pertaining to

Prefixes

Prefix	Meaning	Prefix	Meaning
a-, an-	no, not, without	inter-	between
ab-	away from	intra-	in, within, into
ad-	toward	macro-	large
ana-	up, apart	mal-	bad
ante-	before, forward	meta-	beyond, change
anti-	against	micro-	small
auto-	self, own	neo-	new
bi-	two	pan-	all
brady-	slow	para-	abnormal, beside, near
cata-	down	per-	through
con-	with, together	peri-	surrounding
contra-	against, opposite	poly-	many, much
de-	down, lack of	post-	after, behind
dia-	through, complete	pre-	before, in front of
dys-	bad, painful, difficult, abnormal	pro-	before, forward
ec-	out, outside	pros-	before, forward
endo-	in, within	re-	back, again
epi-	upon, on, above	retro-	behind, backward
eu-	good, normal	sub-	under
ex-	out, outside	supra-	above, upper
hemi-	half	syn-, sym-	together, with
hyper-	excessive, above	tachy-	fast
hypo-	deficient, under	trans-	across, through
in-	not	ultra-	beyond, excess
in-	into, within	uni-	one
infra-	beneath, under

Other terms

Anaplastic - characteristic of cells or tissues that have lost their mature or specialized features, as in malignant tumors (aggressive).

Anastomosis - communication between two vessels (can help maintain circulation if a blockage).

Articulate - (anatomy) joining of bones

Blast - immature cell, usually more radiosensitive than cytes (regular cells)

Costal - ribs

Decubitus - Lying on side (recumbent)

Erythrocytes - red blood cells, created in red bone marrow

Foramen - hole, opening, especially in bone

Fossa - hollow of depressed area, especially in bone

Hilum - depression or fissure where structures such as blood vessels and nerves enter an organ

Hyperplasia - enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in the reproduction rate of its cells, often as an initial stage in the development of cancer. E.g. Prostate.

Infarction - obstruction of blood to organ or tissue (by thrombus or embolus), local necrosis can result

Ischemia - blockage of blood flow (necrosis develops if tissues are blocked too long)

Melan(o) - Black (latin)

Parenchyma - the functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue.

Process - (anatomy) projection or outgrowth of tissue from a larger bod

Seroma - pocket of clear serous fluid that sometimes develops in the body after surgery.

Sphygmomanometer - device to measure blood pressure

Teratogenic - agent or factor which causes malformation of fetus

Viscera - internal organs, esp of abdomen.

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