Spinous process
A slender projection from the back of a vertebra to which muscles and ligaments are attached.
Read Also:
- Spiral CAT scan
See Helical CT, Computed Tomography.
- Spiral fracture
A fracture, sometimes called a torsion fracture, in which a bone has been twisted apart.
- Spirochete
A microscopic bacterial organism in the Spirochaeta family that has a worm-like, spiral-shaped form and wiggles vigorously when viewed under a microscope. Treponema pallidum, the cause of syphilis, is a particularly well-known spirochete.
- Spirometry
A test of the air capacity of the lung. The test utilizes a machine called a spirometer to measure the volume of air inspired and expired by the lungs.
- Spitz-Holter valve
A pioneering one-way valve created by John Holter to treat hydrocephalus. In 1955 Mr. Holter, , a hydraulics technician, and his wife had a son with hydrocephalus for which there was then no effective treatment. Mr. Holter designed a device with a tiny one-way valve that released controlled amounts of the cerebrospinal fluid from the […]