Angiograms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medical imaging method that employs contrast agents and X-rays to create detailed visuals of vascular anatomy and blood circulation
2. An imaging process utilizing a radiopaque dye paired with X-ray technology to capture images of blood vessels and assess their condition
3. A diagnostic technique using injected dye and X-rays to visualize veins and arteries inside the body

Etymology: "Angiograms" is the plural of "angiogram," a noun for the image produced by an angiography procedure. The word's two parts are both Greek in origin. "Angio-" comes from the Greek "angeion," meaning "vessel" (originally a case or container), and it is the element used in medical terms for blood and lymph vessels. "-gram" comes from the Greek "gramma," meaning "something written" or "drawing," the same ending found in "telegram" and "diagram." Put together, the parts describe exactly what the procedure produces: a picture of the vessels. Because the term is built from classical building blocks, it was coined as a modern medical term rather than inherited from antiquity, so the ancient Greeks themselves would not have recognized it as a word for an X-ray image.

Synonyms: vascular images, blood vessel scans