CALIBRATION: The periodic adjustment/maintenance of the instrument's components in contrast to a gold standard in order to yield minimum variation of measurements over a specified range of measurement.

CANCELLOUS BONE - The spongy or honeycomb structure of some bone tissue typically found at the ends of long bones.

CARCINOMA - Cancer; a malignant growth of epithelial or gland cells.

CAROTID ARTERY - Large artery on either side of the neck that supplies most of the cerebral hemisphere.

CAROTID SINUS - Slight dilatation on the common carotid artery at its bifurcation containing nerve cells sensitive to blood pressure. Stimulation can cause slowing of the heart, vasodilatation, and a fall in blood pressure.

CARPAL TUNNEL ? the space formed by the arched array of wrist bones (carpals) on one side (dorsal) and the ligament sheath that connects across them on the other side (ventral) through which the wrist and finger flexor tendons and the median nerve enters the palm of the hand.

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME - A condition caused by compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. Characterized especially by pain, tingling, numbness, or other disturbances of sensation in the middle portion of the hand and fingers.

CARTILAGE ? A type of body tissue, as opposed to bone or muscle, that is of two basic types, Hyaline or Fibrous. Most articular cartilage is the Hyaline-II type. Fibrous cartilage is what comprises our intervertebral disc, or the meniscus of the knee.

CASE MANAGEMENT: A collaborative process of assessment planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of professional services with respect to an individual's health care in order to promote quality and cost-effectiveness of care.

CAUDA EQUINA - The bundle of spinal nerve roots rising from the end of the spinal cord and filling the lower part of the spinal canal (from approximately the thoraco-lumbar junction down).

CAVITATION ? The " POP" that occurs in a joint when the bony articulation surfaces are separated. This creates a vacuum that puts carbon dioxide gas out of the fluid from within the joint, and causes and exchange of this gas with fluid from the outside of the joint. The exchange of gas and fluid makes a pop. Any joint that is pulled, yanked, stretched, sloshed around can cavitate. Joints that are fixated, and adjusted by a chiropractic joint manipulation, will also cavitate. Therefore, cavitation alone does not constitute an adjustment. If this were so, one could adjust oneself and there would be no need for chiropractors.

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS) - Part of the nervous system which consists of the brain and spinal cord. Sensory impulses are transmitted to the CNS motor impulses are sent out. Once the CNS nerves exit the skull or vertebrae of the spine, they are considered part of the periferal nervous system PNS. The CNS supervises and coordinates most of the activity of the entire nervous system, while the PNS provides for reflexes and the speeding-up or slowing-down of our organs (see autonomic nervous system).

CEREBELLUM - The primitive lower part of the brain, above the brain stem, which regulates unconscious coordination of movement.

CEREBRAL - Relating to the cerebrum of the brain, or its intellectual functions.

CEREBRAL CORTEX - Surface layer of gray matter of the brain that functions chiefly in coordination of higher nervous activity, e.g. speech, volition;

CEREBRAL PALSY - Disability resulting from damage to the brain before or during birth and outwardly manifested by muscular incoordination and speech disturbances.

CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) - Water-like fluid produced in the brain that circulates around and protects the brain and spinal cord. Shrinking or expanding of the cranial contents is usually quickly balanced by increase or decrease of this fluid.

CEREBRUM - The principal portion of the brain that occupies the major portion of the interior of the skull and controls conscious movement, sensation, and thought.

CERVICAL - Of or relating to the neck, e.g. cervical spine.

CHEMONUCLEOLYSIS - A treatment of an intervertebral disc that consists of an injection of chymopapain, a drug that dissolves part of the disc.

CHIASM (OPTIC) - Crossing of visual fibers as they head toward the opposite side of the brain. For each optic nerve, most of the visual fibers cross to the opposite side, some run directly backward on each side without crossing.

CHIROPRACTIC CARE: This term refers to the behaviors, methods, and other procedures that chiropractic practitioners employ in the case management of patients.

CHOREA - A disorder, usually of childhood, characterized by irregular, spasmodic, involuntary movements of the limbs or facial muscles.

CHOROID PLEXUS - A vascular structure in the (hollow) ventricles of the brain which produce cerebrospinal fluid.

CHRONIC: Describes a condition which arose more than three months prior to the patient seeking treatment.

CLINICAL GUIDELINES: See Guidelines.

CLINICAL IMPRESSION: A working hypothesis formulated from significant items in the history and the physical findings; a tentative or working diagnosis.

COCCYX - The small bone at the end of the spinal column in humans, formed by the fusion of four rudimentary vertebrae. Also known as the "tail bone".

COHORT STUDY: A prospective investigation of the factors that might cause a disorder in which a cohort of subjects who do not have evidence of an outcome of interest, but who are exposed to the cause are compared with a concurrent cohort of subjects who are also free of the outcome but are not exposed to the cause. Both cohorts are then followed to compare the incidence of the outcome variable.

COHORT: A group of persons with a common characteristic or set of characteristics.
Collaborative Care: The coordinated management and delivery of a patient's health care by two or more professionals at the same time.

COLLAGEN - A fibrous protein which is a major constituent of connective tissue, such as skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bones.

COMMINUTED FRACTURE - A fracture in which a bone is broken into more than two pieces. Often, internal or external fixation devices are used to maintain proper alignment of the fragments.

COMPLICATED CASE: A case where the patient, because of one or more identifiable factors, exhibits regression or delayed recovery in comparison with expectations from the natural history.

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCAN - A diagnostic imaging technique in which a computer reads x-rays to create a three-dimensional map of soft tissue or bone.

CONCOMITANT CARE: The management of a patient's health care by two or more health professionals, with minimal or no interaction. Treatment may be directed at the same or different conditions by the different practitioners.

CONCUSSION - A disruption, usually temporary, of neurological functions resulting from the impacting of the brain within the skull. A direct blow or violent shaking can cause it. Concussion is graded, based on different guidelines, often into grades 1, 2, or 3, and often depending on whether there was loss of consciousness or not, or to what extent the concussion caused amnesia. Grade-1 concussions often have no loss of consciousness and exhibit no notable memory loss, e.g. "getting your bell rung" in football.

CONSENT: Consent, which may be expressed or implied, is given when a patient agrees to submit to diagnostic and/or treatment procedures. Consent is limited to procedures provided by the health care practitioner that are reasonably anticipated to assist in the recovery of the patient. A valid consent requires legal mental capacity to consent. See Informed Consent.

CONTEMPORANEOUS: Existing or happening at the same period of time, referring to events.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Part-time educational programs conducted on a continuing basis for practising practitioners for the purposes of maintaining and improving their knowledge base and introducing them to new knowledge and clinical skills.

CONTRAST MEDIUM - Any material (usually opaque to x-rays) employed to delineate or define a structure during a radiological procedure.

CONTUSION - A bruise. An area in which blood that has leaked out of blood vessels is mixed with tissue.

CORONAL SUTURE - The line of junction of the frontal bones and the parietal bones of the skull.

CORTEX - The external layer. The gray matter covering the hemispheres of the cerebrum and cerebellum. The dense bone that forms the outer surface of bone.

CORTICAL - Pertaining to the cortex.

CRANIUM - The part of the skull that holds the brain.

CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY: A study in which all measurements are made on a single occasion, there is no follow-up period.

CSF - See cerebrospinal fluid.

CSF SHUNT - A bypass or diversion of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid to an absorbing or excreting system.