Name: draping for a better physical exam
Uploaded: 2023-04-30T06:41:48.000Z
Duration: 8 min 10 s
Channel: JoVE

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proper-adjustment-of-patient-attire-during-the-physical-exam

Proper Adjustment of Patient Attire during the Physical Exam

1. Maneuvers that can be performed while the patient is wearing street clothing
Note that some aspects of the physical exam can be performed on patients while they are wearing street clothing that permits exposure of the region to be inspected. These maneuvers include the measurement of the vital signs, general appearance, the HEENT (Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat) exam, the neck exam, the abdominal exam, the vascular exam, and the neurological exam.
<ol>
	<li>To take a measurement of the vital signs, make sure to have access to the patient's arms.</li>
	<li>In order to perform the basic HEENT maneuvers, instruct the patient to remove any hats, dentures (if a thorough exam of a patient's oral mucosa is necessary), eyeglasses (while examining the eyes), and hearing aids (if a thorough ear exam is necessary). The HEENT exam can be performed regardless of what a patient is wearing from the neck down. Keep in mind that functional assessment of speech, visual acuity, and hearing is done best with dentures, glasses, and hearing aids in place.</li>
	<li>Make sure the clothing permits the ability to inspect and palpate the neck and supraclavicular regions (an adequate neck examination can be performed in a patient who's wearing a loose-fitting shirt or a tank top).</li>
	<li>The clinician can examine the abdomen in a patient wearing loose-fitting clothing. Instruct the patient to have their pants rolled down to expose the lower abdomen and their shirt raised up to provide optimal exposure.</li>
	<li>For the vascular exam, make sure to have access to the site where each pulse is located. For all upper and lower extremity pulses other than femoral, loose-fitting sleeves or pant legs can be raised up when needed. Socks must be removed for pedal pulses.</li>
	<li>All aspects of the neurologic examination can be performed on a patient who's wearing clothing that permits inspection and palpation of the extremities. Be sure to remove a patient's shoes and socks.</li>
	<li>Most musculoskeletal regions can be examined in patients wearing t-shirts and shorts. The shoulder examination is best done in a patient who is shirtless (or in a bra only) or wearing a tank top, as visual inspection and provocative range of motion testing cannot be easily done simultaneously in a patient wearing a gown.</li>
</ol>
2. Offering the gown and drape
<ol>
	<li>Certain patients may find it acceptable to be examined while shirtless, which provides optimal access to the structures in the neck, thorax, and abdomen. In the interest of avoiding unnecessary exposure of women's breasts, clinicians often conduct the examination with the patient wearing a bra or by using draping techniques with a gown. This video demonstrates the draping technique for a patient who has been instructed to remove their bra.</li>
	<li>Provide instructions on what to do with the gown and drape (e.g., "In order to examine you today, I'm going to ask you to change into this gown. Keep it open in the back. You can leave your underwear on, but please remove your other clothing including your bra. You can cover yourself with this drape to keep warm.").</li>
	<li>Step out of the room while the patient changes, unless the patient needs help getting changed due to mobility limitations, and let the patient know how long you'll be gone. Experienced providers may tend to another task while the patient is changing, which patients typically don't mind, as long as they know when to expect your return.</li>
</ol>
3. The sensitive use of gown and drape in various physical exam maneuvers
<ol>
	<li>With the patient seated on the exam table, start the exam with the gown fastened, typically in the back, and offer a drape to cover the patient's lap and legs for warmth and use in subsequent maneuvers.</li>
	<li>Examination of the neck, anterior chest, and heart in a patient wearing a hospital gown - draping techniques are similar for all of these maneuvers in the seated, supine, and standing positions.</li>
	<li>Untie the gown at the back of the neck.</li>
	<li>Instruct the patient to lower the gown slightly at the shoulders to allow optimal examination of the lower neck and clavicles.</li>
	<li>Cardiac and Respiratory Exam
	<ol>
		<li>Ask the patient to lower the gown a few inches further, while keeping their breasts covered. This allows for adequate exposure for inspection, percussion, palpation, and auscultation on the anterior chest and anterior lung zones, as well as inspection, palpation, and auscultation of the pulmonic and aortic regions of the heart.</li>
		<li>Slightly lower the gown at the sternum to allow for auscultation at Erb's point and the tricuspid area. Examination of the tricuspid area can also be done via an alternative approach, as described below.</li>
		<li>Replace the gown over the shoulders when this portion of the exam is finished.</li>
		<li>After informing the patient that the "bottom part of their heart" is to be examined next, raise their gown, or instruct the patient to raise it, to expose the left flank and left upper quadrant of the abdomen to gain access to the fifth left intercostal space at the mid-clavicular line (mitral area). If the patient's left breast is impeding access to this area, use the back of your left hand to displace the breast or ask the patient to lift the bottom of their left breast out of the way.</li>
		<li>For an alternative approach to examining the tricuspid area, with the left upper quadrant, slightly lift the gown at the inferior border of the sternum.</li>
		<li>With the flank and left upper quadrant exposed, and the patient holding their left breast and gown out of the way with their right hand, examine the mitral area with the patient in the left lateral decubitus position.</li>
		<li>To examine the posterior and lateral thorax in a seated position, move the folds of the gown laterally to allow for adequate exposure for the inspection, percussion, palpation, and auscultation of the posterior chest, back, and posterior lung zones.</li>
		<li>Displace the gown further, laterally and one side at a time, as needed to allow for the examination of the lateral chest walls.</li>
		<li>Examination of the back can be performed in a patient who is shirtless (or only in a bra) or wearing a gown that's open in the back. If the patient is wearing a gown, perform the seated inspection as described previously.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Gait and Standing Range of Motion Testing
	<ol>
		<li>During gait or standing range of motion (e.g., forward flexion) testing, hold the back of the gown together, so the patient can concentrate on the movement (rather than on worrying about the gown falling off).</li>
		<li>Replace the gown to cover the back and retie the neck straps when this portion of the exam is finished.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Abdominal examination
	<ol>
		<li>Place the drape over the patient's legs and pelvis.</li>
		<li>With the patient in the supine position, lift (or have the patient lift) the gown just below the level of the breasts, simultaneously securing the drape, so it keeps the patient's pelvis covered. This technique is called "double draping," or simultaneous use of the gown and drape to leave the chest, legs, pubic, and inguinal regions covered, while examining the abdomen or lower chest.</li>
		<li>All standard aspects of the abdominal exam can be performed with this exposure, except for the percussion of the liver from the superior approach, which requires additional displacement of the gown on the right side of the lower chest. The patient may need to lift their right breast superiorly to allow access for percussion.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Femoral Artery and Inguinal Nodes
	<ol>
		<li>Palpation and auscultation of the femoral artery generally requires the patient to be in a gown. While it is possible to palpate the pulse over a thin layer of clothing, this is not optimal, and auscultation cannot be done this way.</li>
		<li>To perform both palpation and auscultation, move the drape medially or lower the drape or pants sufficiently to allow the examiner access from a superior approach, examining one side at a time and replacing the drape before moving to the other side.</li>
		<li>Note that examination of the inguinal lymph nodes can be done in the same way.</li>
		<li>Replace the gown when these maneuvers are finished being performed.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Musculoskeletal System of the Lower Extremities
	<ol>
		<li>If a patient is wearing a gown and the lower extremities need to be examined while the patient is supine, place the draping sheet between the patient's legs, so each leg and hip can be easily uncovered and directly examined, which limits the exposure of areas not being actively examined.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Skin
	<ol>
		<li>A complete skin examination requires sequential displacement of the gown to expose all areas of interest, while keeping other regions covered with the gown and drape. The skin of the breasts, pelvis, and gluteal regions are typically examined in this process, as well. Refer to the videos on the genitourinary exam and female breast exam for descriptions of draping techniques for these components of the exam.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
<img alt="Sensitive examination guidelines; diagram; emphasizes proper gown use; patient autonomy; modesty." src="/files/ftp_upload/10147/10147fig1.jpg" data-altupdatedat="1761830439000" data-alt="Figure 1">
Figure 1: General considerations for the sensitive use of drapes and gowns

The sensitive use of gowns and drapes during the physical examination is important to strike a balance between patient comfort and exposure (Figure 1). The examination should not be compromised out of the clinician's concern for patient exposure, since the proper use of draping allows for the proper exam to be performed in most clinical circumstances. Examination through clothing, sheets, or gowns is incorrect technique, though only the areas of the body being directly examined at a given time need to be...

proper adjustment of patient attire during the physical exam

Source: <a href="https://www.jove.com/author/Jaideep+S._Talwalkar">Jaideep S. Talwalkar</a>, MD, and Joseph Donroe, MD, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
In order to optimize the predictive value of the physical examination, the provider must perform maneuvers correctly. The proper use of drapes is an important component of correctly performing physical examination maneuvers. Skin lesions are missed when &#34;inspection&#34; occurs through clothing, crackles are erroneously reported when the lungs are examined through a t-shirt, and subtle findings on the heart exam go undetected when auscultation is performed over clothing. Accordingly, the best practice standards call for examining with one&#39;s hands or equipment in direct contact with the patient&#39;s skin (i.e., do not examine through a gown, drape, or clothing). In addition to its clinical value, the correct draping technique is important for improving the patient&#39;s comfort level during the encounter.
Like all other aspects of the physical exam, it takes deliberate thought and practice to find the right balance between draping, which is done to preserve patient modesty, and exposure, which is necessary to optimize access to the parts that need examination. Individual provider styles in the use of gowns and drapes vary considerably based on the site of practice, resource availability, and discipline within medicine. This video provides a general overview of some of the most common techniques used, combining techniques that utilize common draping approaches.

Source: Jaideep S. Talwalkar, MD, and Joseph Donroe, MD, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
In order to optimize the ...

The proper usage of any attire, including hospital gowns and drapes is an important component of correctly performing maneuvers during the physical exam.Skin lesions can be missed when inspection occurs through clothing. Sounds can be misleading if the lungs are percussed through a t-shirt. And subtle findings on the heart exam can go undetected when auscultation is performed over apparel. Accordingly, the best practice standards call for examining with one's hands or equipment in direct contact with the patient's skin. Therefore, it takes deliberate thought and practice to employ appropriate usage of clothing, such that it preserves patient modesty, and allows sufficient access to the parts that need examination. Certain regions can be examined while patient are wearing street clothing, while others regions can be more comfortably investigated if the patient is wearing gown and drapes. In this video, we'll demonstrate considerations for each of these scenarios using examples of a few routine physical exams.First, let's go over the steps, which can be performed on patients wearing street clothing. The vital signs can be measured if you have access to the patient's arms. For basic HEENT maneuvers, instruct the patient to remove any hats, eyeglasses, dentures-if a thorough exam of a patient's oral mucosa in necessary, and hearing aids -if a thorough ear exam is necessary. But other than that these exams can be performed regardless of what a patient is wearing from the neck down.If the patient is wearing loose-fitting clothing, the inspection and palpation of the neck and supraclavicular regions can be easily performed. In order to examine the abdomen, instruct the patient to lie down and ask them to roll down their pants and raise-up their shirt to provide optimal exposure. During vascular exam, raise the sleeves and the pant legs as necessary to access the pulse sites. Make sure that the footwear and socks are removed before testing the pedal pulses. The femoral pulse is usually not accessible in patients wearing street clothing. All aspects of the neurologic examination can be performed on a patient who's wearing clothing that permits inspection and palpation of the extremities. Now, let's go over the maneuvers to be performed while the patient is wearing a hospital gown. First, provide instructions to the patient on what to do with the gown, "In order to examine you today, I'm going to ask you to change into this gown. Keep it open in the back. You can leave your underwear on, but please remove your other clothing including your bra." Let the patient know how long you'll be gone and step out of the room while the patient changes. When you come back, knock on the door and ask for the patient's permission to come in. Instruct the patient to sit on the exam table. Offer a drape to cover lap and legs for warmth. This drape will be used in subsequent maneuvers as well.Now, let's go over the appropriate gown use for the neck, anterior chest, and heart exams. Untie the gown at the back of the neck. Instruct the patient to lower the gown slightly at the shoulders to allow optimal examination of the lower neck and clavicles. Next, ask the patient to lower the gown a few inches further. This allows for adequate exposure of the anterior chest, lung zones, as well as the pulmonic and aortic regions of the heart. Further lowering the gown at the sternum allows for auscultation at the Erb's point and the tricuspid area. When this portion of the exam is finished, replace the gown over the shoulders. For examining the cardiac apex, instruct the patient to raise their gown to expose the left flank and upper left quadrant of the abdomen. To examine the mitral area, place the stethoscope in the fifth left intercostal space at the mid-clavicular line. Certain findings are best appreciated with the patient lying in the left lateral decubitus position. If the patient's left breast is impeding access to this area, ask the patient to displace it with their right hand or you can use the back of your left hand to do the same. This position brings the left ventricle closer to the chest wall, which can accentuate S3, S4 and the murmur of mitral stenosis when using the bell.For adequate exposure of the back region, move the folds of the gown laterally with the patient in the seated position. Displace the gown further, one side at a time, to allow for the lateral chest wall examination. During gait or standing range of motion, like forward flexion testing, hold the back of the gown together, so that the patient can concentrate on the movement and not worry about the gown falling off. After this portion of the exam, replace the gown to cover the back and retie the neck straps.For abdominal, thigh and inguinal investigation, ask the patient to lie down at 0-30? angle, and place the drape to cover the patient's legs and pelvis. Request the patient to lift the gown just below the chest level, simultaneously securing the drape. This technique is called "double draping," which means simultaneous use of a gown and a drape. All standard aspects of the abdominal exam can be performed with this exposure, except for the percussion of the liver from the superior approach, which requires additional displacement of the gown on the right side to expose the lower chest. To assess the femoral artery and inguinal lymph nodes, move the drape medially, examine one side at a time and replace the drape before moving to the other side. Replace the gown when these maneuvers are finished being performed.In order to examine the musculoskeletal system, ensure that the region of interest is exposed to permit inspection, palpation, and provocative maneuvers simultaneously. Exposure should also allow examination of the surrounding muscle groups and joints. For testing lower extremities, place the draping sheet between the patient's legs, so that each leg and hip can be easily uncovered and directly examined, which limits the exposure of areas not being actively examined. Lastly, a complete skin examination requires sequential displacement of the gown to expose all areas of interest, while keeping other regions covered with the gown or drape.At the end of the physical exam, thank the patient for their cooperation. Ask patients to change back into their clothing before initiating complicated discussions about diagnosis and treatment.You've just watched JoVE's video on sensitive and effective usage of attire during the physical exam. Here, we presented a handful of techniques for effectively working with patient's clothing-be it "street" or "hospital"-that can be can be applied to all the standard parts of the physical exam. It is extremely important to strike a balance between patient comfort, and exposure necessary for a thorough examination, and as with all the other aspects of the physical exam, developing the skill to appropriately manipulate the patient's attire takes deliberate practice. As always, thanks for watching!

Education

JoVE Science Education

Clinical Skills

Physical Examinations I

draping for a better physical exam

Draping is an important part of a careful physical exam. It helps the provider examine the right body area while also protecting patient modesty. Good draping takes practice because the examiner must balance exposure with comfort.

Correct technique also improves the accuracy of the exam. Skin lesions can be missed if inspection is done through clothing. Lung crackles may be reported by mistake when the chest is examined through a T-shirt, and subtle heart findings can be missed when auscultation, or listening with a stethoscope, is done over clothing.

Best practice is to place hands or equipment directly on the patient’s skin. That means the provider should not examine through a gown, drape, or other clothing. The exact style of gown and drape use can vary by practice site, available supplies, and medical discipline, so this overview shows common approaches used in clinical care.

Draping for a Better Physical Exam

general approach to the physical exam

Why Physical Exams Still Matter

Physical examination remains an important part of medicine. Doctors have used the body exam for centuries to connect changes in body function with disease. Even with modern imaging and lab tests, the bedside exam still helps clinicians understand what may be happening in the patient. Physical examination is not a replacement for tests, and it does not answer every question. Some maneuvers that were once highly valued may have limited usefulness. Still, many conditions can only be found through...

observation and inspection

Clinical Observation in Physical Exam

Clinical observation is the starting point of a physical examination and begins at the first contact with a patient. Observation is a broad term for using the senses carefully to gather information. Inspection is a narrower term. It refers to what can be seen with the eyes, especially on the surface of the body, rather than to behavior. Skilled clinicians use more than sight when they examine a patient. They also rely on touch, through palpation and percussion, and on hearing, through...

palpation

How Hand Position Guides Palpation

Palpation uses touch to collect diagnostic information during the physical exam. It is one of the ways a healthcare provider uses the senses to learn more about a patient. The part of the hand used for palpation changes depending on the body area being examined. Finger pads are best for fine detail. Their dense sensory nerves help the examiner feel small features, such as the borders of masses or lymph nodes. The back of the hand, also called the dorsal surface, gives a rough sense of relative...

percussion

Clinical Percussion and Body Sound

Clinical percussion uses tapping to create sound and help assess what lies beneath the body surface. It is a simple bedside technique that depends on the way sound changes when it travels through different tissues. The method began with Leopold Auenbrugger, an Austrian inn-keeper's son, who found that tapping beer barrels could help him take inventory. He later applied the same idea to patients in Vienna and published the first description of its diagnostic use in 1761. Jean-Nicolas Corvisart...

auscultation

Stethoscope Sounds in Clinical Exam

Auscultation is a clinical exam method that lets a provider listen to sounds inside the body. Doctors use it to gather important diagnostic information from the chest, heart, abdomen, and blood vessels. For many years, auscultation meant immediate auscultation. In that method, the examiner placed an ear directly on the patient's skin. This approach was used for centuries, but it became less useful in nineteenth-century France because of social norms and poor diagnostic yield. René Laënnec...

Draping is an important part of a careful physical exam. It helps the provider examine the right body area while also protecting patient modesty. Good draping takes practice because the examiner must balance exposure with comfort. Correct technique also improves the accuracy of the exam. Skin lesions can be missed if inspection is done through clothing. Lung crackles may be reported by mistake when the chest is examined through a T-shirt, and subtle heart findings can be missed when...

blood pressure measurement

Manual Blood Pressure Reading Steps

Blood pressure reading uses an indirect method to measure the pressure of blood against vessel walls. Blood pressure, or BP, is a vital sign that is checked routinely in hospital and outpatient settings. It is one of the most common medical assessments performed around the world. The indirect method is non-invasive, safe, and easily reproducible, so it is used most often. BP can be measured automatically by oscillometry or manually by auscultation. Auscultation uses a sphygmomanometer, which...

measuring vital signs

Vital Sign Ranges and Patient Status

Vital signs are objective measurements that show a patient’s clinical status. The commonly accepted vital signs are blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation. In many practices, pain is also treated as the sixth vital sign and is documented with the others. Pain is different from the other vital signs because it is a subjective measurement. That means the pain scale can vary from one patient to another. A vital signs assessment includes heart rate, blood...

respiratory exam i: inspection and palpation

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Checking Breathing Distress by Exam

Respiratory exam starts with looking for breathing distress and feeling the chest. Shortness of breath is a common reason for both outpatient and inpatient evaluation. Early inspection can reveal fast breathing or cyanosis, which is a bluish color change that can signal low oxygen. If a patient shows respiratory distress, the situation needs urgent attention and oxygen therapy. In many cases, careful clinical examination can help identify lung problems without relying only on tests. This is...

respiratory exam ii: percussion and auscultation

respiratory-exam-ii-percussion-and-auscultation

Respiratory Exam: Lung Sounds and Percussion

Respiratory exam skills include percussion and auscultation of the lungs. These techniques help identify lung problems during a physical exam. Percussion uses tapping to assess the chest, and auscultation uses a stethoscope to listen for breath sounds. Percussion is a useful skill that is often skipped in routine clinical practice. When it is done correctly, it can help a physician detect underlying lung pathology. Auscultation can also give an almost immediate clue to several acute pulmonary...

cardiac exam i: inspection and palpation

Cardiac Exam I: Checking the Chest First

Cardiac exam inspection and palpation are the first steps in a careful heart assessment. These steps help a physician gather useful information before using a stethoscope. They are part of the core examination performed when a patient is first seen. Heart and circulatory disorders are common reasons for hospital admission. They can include conditions such as myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. Because of this, learning a complete cardiac examination is important for any...

cardiac exam ii: auscultation

Listening for Normal and Abnormal Heart Sounds

Heart auscultation uses a stethoscope to listen to heart sounds and check for normal and abnormal patterns. For physicians, knowing how to hear these sounds and tell them apart is an essential skill. The sound heard at each spot on the chest relates to the closing of specific heart valves. The heart has two main sounds, called S1 and S2. S1 happens when the mitral and tricuspid valves, which are the atrioventricular valves, close after blood enters the ventricles. This marks the start of...

cardiac exam iii: abnormal heart sounds

Heart Murmurs and Gallop Sounds

Heart murmurs and gallop sounds are abnormal heart sounds that can be heard during auscultation, or listening to the heart with a stethoscope. A good understanding of normal heart sounds is the first step in telling normal sounds apart from abnormal ones. Murmurs usually have a swishing quality and point to turbulent blood flow across a heart valve. Murmurs can happen because a valve is too narrow, which is called stenosis, or because blood leaks backward across the valve, which is called...

peripheral vascular exam

Assessing PAD and Venous Signs

Peripheral vascular disease can affect blood flow in the arms and legs, and careful exam steps help reveal signs of disease. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is linked to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. Risk factors include diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and tobacco use. Symptoms may appear as limb claudication, which is cramp-like muscle pain that gets worse with activity and better with rest. Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) can cause lower extremity swelling,...

peripheral vascular exam using a continuous wave doppler

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Bedside Doppler for Leg Blood Flow Checks

Peripheral vascular disease affects the arteries and veins outside the heart, and it is common in older adults. History and physical exam can suggest the diagnosis, but Doppler ultrasound is now a routine part of the bedside vascular exam. This lesson focuses on bedside assessment of peripheral arterial disease and chronic venous insufficiency with a handheld continuous wave Doppler. A handheld Doppler is a simple tool that sends and receives ultrasound at the same time. It detects changes in...

physical examinations i

This collection provides a foundation for performing physical exams; with techniques ranging from measuring blood pressure or vital signs, to key pulmonary and cardiovascular physical examinations. 

Learn how proper draping improves physical exam accuracy and patient comfort. See why direct skin contact matters for inspection, listening, and exam access.

Draping for a Better Physical Exam | JoVE K12

Jaideep Talwalkar

Joseph Donroe

Internal Medicine

Yale School of Medicine

Overview

Physical Exams that can be Performed in Street Clothing

Common Techniques for Effective Use of Drapes and Gowns

Summary

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Cytogenetics is the field of study devoted to chromosomes, and involves the direct observation of a cell&#8217;s chromosomal number and structure, ...

embryonic-stem-cell-culture-and-differentiation

Embryonic Stem Cell Culture and Differentiation

Culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells requires conditions that maintain these cells in an undifferentiated state to preserve their capacity for self-renewal ...

DNA Gel Electrophoresis

DNA gel electrophoresis is a technique used for the detection and separation of DNA molecules. An electric field is applied to a gel matrix comprised of ...

Enzyme Assays and Kinetics

Enzyme kinetics describes the catalytic effects of enzymes, which are biomolecules that facilitate chemical reactions necessary for living organisms. ...

DNA Ligation Reactions

In molecular biology, ligation refers to the joining of two DNA fragments through the formation of a phosphodiester bond.  An enzyme known as a ligase ...

explant-culture-for-developmental-studies

Explant Culture for Developmental Studies

Explant culture is a technique in which living cells or tissues are removed from an embryo for continued development outside of the organism. This ex vivo ...

DNA Methylation Analysis

Methylation at CpG dinucleotides is a chemical modification of DNA hypothesized to play important roles in regulating gene expression. In particular, the ...

Expression Profiling with Microarrays

Microarrays are important tools for profiling gene expression, and are based on complementary binding between probes that are attached to glass chips and ...

Density Gradient Ultracentrifugation

Density gradient ultracentrifugation is a common technique used to isolate and purify biomolecules and cell structures. This technique exploits the fact ...

F&#246;rster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)

F&#246;rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a phenomenon used to investigate close-range biochemical interactions. In FRET, a donor photoluminescent ...

detecting-environmental-microorganisms-with-polymerase-chain-reaction

Detecting Environmental Microorganisms with the Polymerase Chain Reaction and Gel Electrophoresis

Source: Laboratories of Dr. Ian Pepper and Dr. Charles Gerba - Arizona University
Demonstrating Author: Bradley Schmitz
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is ...

Gel Purification

Gel purification is used to recover DNA fragments after electrophoretic separation. DNA recovery from an agarose gel includes three basic steps: binding, ...

Detecting Reactive Oxygen Species

Reactive oxygen species are chemically active, oxygen-derived molecules capable of oxidizing other molecules. Because of their reactive nature, there are ...

Gene Silencing with Morpholinos

Morpholino-mediated gene silencing is a common technique used to study roles of specific genes during development. Morpholinos inhibit gene expression by ...

development-and-reproduction-of-the-laboratory-mouse

Development and Reproduction of the Laboratory Mouse

Successful breeding of the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus) is critical to the establishment and maintenance of a productive animal colony. Additionally, ...

Genetic Crosses

To dissect genetic processes or create organisms with novel suites of traits, scientists can perform genetic crosses, or the purposeful mating of two ...

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

HS-LS1-1.

Draping for a Better Physical Exam

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