thoracoscopy
- noun
- /θɔːrəˈkɒskəpi/
- Specialized
- The doctor performed a thoracoscopy to examine the patient's lungs for any abnormalities.
Examples
-
During the thoracoscopy, the team used a camera to guide their instruments and ensure precision.
-
He underwent thoracoscopy through the right pleural cavity.
Academic text (2007) -
The methods involved for retrieval are basically decided by the position of the foreign body in the mediastinum, and the approaches include thoracotomy, sternotomy, and video-assisted thoracoscopy.
Academic text (2007) -
After the thoracoscopy, the surgeon explained the findings to the patient's family.
How Invasive
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Specialized
13
9.9
- Specialized
2
9.9
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
thoracoscopy = thorax (semi-transparent) = thorac + scopy
Formed from the medical combining form for 'chest' and the medical suffix '-scopy' (examination); the formation is regular but both elements are specialized, so not fully obvious to an average learner.
Etymology
Thoracoscopy comes from Greek words thorax meaning 'chest' and -scopy meaning 'to look', like in telescope. So a thoracoscopy is a medical 'looking' into the chest with a small camera, used to check or treat the lungs.