Medical Instruments and Equipment

Wheelchair: a chair with wheels in which someone can sit and move around.

Scalpel: a small sharp-pointed knife used in surgery.

Probe: an instrument used to explore inside a cavity or wound.

Forceps: a surgical instrument with handles like a pair of scissors, made in different sizes and with differently shaped ends, used for holding and pulling.

Curette: a surgical instrument like a long thin spoon, used for scraping the inside of an organ.

Pipette: a thin glass tube used for taking and measuring samples of liquid.

Tourniquet: an instrument or tight bandage wrapped around a limb to constrict an artery, reducing the flow of blood and stopping bleeding from a wound.

Hook: a surgical instrument with a bent end used for holding structures apart in operations.

Drain: a tube used to remove liquid from the body.

Gag: an instrument placed between the teeth to stop the mouth from closing.

Syringe: a medical instrument made of a tube with a plunger which either slides down inside the tube, forcing the contents out through a needle as in an injection, or slides up the tube, allowing a liquid to be sucked into it.

Catheter: a tube passed into the body along one of the passages in the body.

Bandage: a piece of cloth wrapped around a wound or an injured limb.

Sling: triangular bandages attached around the neck, used to support an injured arm and prevent it from moving.

Stretcher: a folding bed, with handles, on which an injured person can be carried by two people.

Splint: a stiff support attached to a limb to prevent a broken bone from moving.

Stethoscope: two earpieces connected to a tube and a metal disc, used to listen to sounds made inside the body.

Thermometer: an instrument for measuring temperature.

Ventilator: a machine that pushes air in and out of someone's lungs when they cannot breathe on their own.

Scanner: a piece of equipment used for producing a picture of the inside of a part of someone's body for a medical examination.

Life support system: a set of machines that keep someone alive when they are very ill.

Operating table: a table that someone lies on while doctors operate on them.

Respirator: an object covering your nose and mouth that helps you breathe when you are in a place full of smoke or gas.

Respirator: a machine used in hospitals for helping people who cannot breathe on their own.

Pacemaker: a small piece of electronic equipment connected to someone's heart to help the heart muscles move regularly.

Incubator: a piece of hospital equipment that ill or premature babies lie in to be kept warm and receive treatment.

Oxygen tent: a large container filled with oxygen that doctors put around a person who cannot breathe normally.

Sphygmomanometer: a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to restrict blood flow, and a mercury or mechanical manometer to measure the pressure.

Otoscope: a medical device used to look into the ears. Healthcare providers use them for illness during regular check-ups and also to investigate when a symptom involves the ears.

Tongue depressor: a tool used in medical practice to depress the tongue to allow for examination of the mouth and throat.

Antiseptic: liquid used to sterilize the surface of the skin.

Dressing: a protective covering placed over a wound.

Elastic tape: a thin roll of stretchy material that is sticky on one side.

Eye chart: a poster of letters, words, and number combinations of various sizes used to test a person's eyesight.

Microscope: equipment that makes small things appear larger than they are.

Scales: a device that measures a person's weight.

Vial: a small bottle or container used for storing liquids.

Ophthalmoscope: used for looking at the eyes.