In medicine, a probe allows exploring body cavities or carrying substances into them.
Probe is a term that can refer to different kinds of instruments and tools . These devices are linked to the verb probe : to carry out an investigation or tracking of something.
In the field of medicine , a probe is a device used to explore body cavities or to bring certain substances to them. An example of these tubes are nasogastric tubes , which enter the body through the mouth or nose, cross the esophagus and reach the stomach .
A catheter is also a tube. It is an elongated tube that is inserted into a vein or tissue to drain fluids or deliver drugs to the body . Among these catheters is the Nélaton catheter , which is used in the bladder to drain urine.
The urinary catheter
In addition to all of the above, we can highlight that urinary catheters of this type have three fundamental elements: the body itself ; the tip , which will be the part that is introduced into the patient's body; and the funnel , which is where the urine comes out and which is in relation to the collection bag.
Likewise, we must not forget that this type of probe can be classified according to different criteria:
- Based on the duration of the probing, it can be temporary , intermittent or permanent .
- Depending on their caliber and length, there are probes for children , for men and for women .
- Depending on the material of the catheter, we come across silicone probes , which are biocompatible and can last about 90 days; latex ones, which are soft and last about 45 days; and PVC ones, which are much more rigid.
Space probes are used to investigate outer space.
Its use in nautical
A nautical probe , on the other hand, is a tool used to measure the distance between the hull of a ship and the seabed.
There are different types of nautical probes: among them echoic probes , which carry out the measurement through ultrasonic signals.
Probes in cars
Of course, it should not be overlooked that there are also probes in cars. Specifically, we are referring to the so-called lambda probe , which is located in the area of the exhaust pipe and whose mission is to measure the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gases. More specifically, it is located before the catalyst.
The first probe of this type that existed was the one developed by the German industry Bosch in 1976 . A probe that was applied to the Volvo 240 car.
Other types
Space probes are machines that are launched into outer space to carry out different types of scientific studies. These probes are directed towards objects or with a fixed direction so that they take different kinds of data. The Voyager and Pioneer probes are examples of these probes.
Temperature probes and molecular probes are also probes that contribute to carrying out different scientific tasks since they allow different types of measurements to be carried out.