Lab Testing

Lab Testing and Blood Work

Arrowhead Health Centers has an on-site lab for your convenience. Whether it be a Diabetic panel, Thyroid testing, metabolic testing or blood work, we are able to complete the lab work here and provide safe and easy online access to your records.

MSK Ultrasound

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is the best diagnostics test for muscle, tendon, and joint disorders. An Ultrasound scan is referred to as a dynamic (moving) test, unlike other static (still) tests such as MRI.

This allows us to see things that static tests may miss, because they can’t capture movement. Think about a rubber band — even though it appears intact, once it is stretched to capacity, you can see small tears.

MSK Ultrasound utilizes the same ultrasound we see every day to look at a baby in utero, hearts, organs, and blood vessels. It is non-invasive, highly accurate and gives a clear, dynamic (moving) evaluation of your joint and soft tissue pain.

NCV (Nerve Conduction and Amplitude Velocity)

Nerve conduction velocity is an important aspect of nerve conduction studies. It is the speed at which an electrochemical impulse propagates down a neural pathway.

Conduction velocities are affected by a wide array of factors, including age, sex, and various medical conditions. Nerve conduction studies allow for better diagnoses of various forms of neuropathy, including Peripheral Neuropathy.

Bone Density, DXA, DEXA Scan

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, previously DEXA) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD). Two X-ray beams with different energy levels are aimed at the patient’s bones. When soft tissue absorption is subtracted out, the BMD can be determined from the absorption of each beam by bone.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is the most widely used and most thoroughly studied bone density measurement technology. A DXA scan is typically used to diagnose and follow osteoporosis, as contrasted to the nuclear bone scan, which is sensitive to certain metabolic diseases of bones in which bones are attempting to heal from infections, fractures, or tumors.

Echocardiogram

Echocardiogram, often referred to as a cardiac echo or simply an echo, is a sonogram of the heart. Echocardiography uses standard two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and Doppler ultrasound to create images of the heart.

Echocardiography has become routinely used in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with any suspected or known heart diseases. It is one of the most widely used diagnostics tests in cardiology. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart (internal chamber size quantification), pumping capacity, and the location and extent of any tissue damage. An echocardiogram can also give physicians other estimates of heart function such as a calculation of the cardiac output, ejection fraction, and diastolic function (how well the heart relaxes).

EMG

Electromyography (EMG) is an electrodiagnostic medical technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph, to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyograph detects the electrical potential generated by muscle cells when these cells are electrically or neurologically activated. The signals can be analyzed to detect medical abnormalities, activation level, or recruitment order or to analyze the biomechanics of human movement.

EKG (Electrocardiogram)

Electrocardiography (or EKG) is the process of recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on a patient’s body. These electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes on the skin that arise from the heart muscle depolarizing during each heartbeat.

In a conventional 12 lead EKG, ten electrodes are placed on the patient’s limbs and on the surface of the chest. The overall magnitude of the heart’s electrical potential is then measured from twelve different angles (“leads”) and is recorded over a period of time (usually 10 seconds). In this way, the overall magnitude and direction of the heart’s electrical depolarization is captured at each moment throughout the cardiac cycle. The graph of voltage versus time produced by this noninvasive medical procedure is referred to as an electrocardiogram (often abbreviated ECG or EKG).

X-ray

An X-Ray is often the simplest diagnostics tool to uncover your source or location of an injury, obstruction, or medical condition. At Arrowhead Health Centers, we offer a wide variety of X-Rays to fit your needs from head to toe.

We also have special arrangements with SimonMed and Sun Radiology for all patients in the event that we cannot accommodate your radiology needs in-office.