- 1. A collection of instruments adapted for a special purpose. 2. An instrument made up of several parts. 3. [TA] A group or system of glands, ducts, blood vessel s, muscles, or other anatomic structures involved in the performance of some function. SEE ALSO: system. [L. equipment. fr. ap-paro, pp. -atus, to prepare]- attachment a. the tissues that attach the tooth to the alveolar process : cementum, periodontal membrane, and alveolar bone.- Beckmann a. a. for the accurate measurement of melting points and boiling points in connection with molecular weight determinations.- Benedict-Roth a. a device employed to measure the amount of oxygen utilized in quiet breathing in the basal state for the estimation of the basal metabolic rate; the subject rebreathes oxygen through soda lime from a recording spirometer.- branchial a. the aggregate of the pharyngeal arches, pouches, clefts, and membranes seen in the developing embryo of vertebrates.- chromidial a. the aggregate of extranuclear network, irregular strands, and masses of basophilic staining material permeating the protoplasm of the cell. SEE ALSO: ribosome, endoplasmic reticulum.- a. digestorius SYN: alimentary system.- Golgi a. a membranous system of cisternae and vesicles located between the nucleus and the secretory pole or surface of a cell; concerned with the investment and intracellular transport of membrane-bounded secretory proteins, and the synthesis of polysaccharides and glycoproteins. SYN: dictyosome, Golgi body, Golgi complex, Golgi internal reticulum, Holmgrén-Golgi canals.- hyoid a. veterinary anatomy term for hyoid bones, a modified portion of the ancestral branchial skeleton consisting of an articulated chain of bones extending from the mastoid region of the skull on each side to the base of the tongue; in humans, it is reduced to a single bone, os hyoideum; in a typical mammal (the dog), it consists of a tympanohyoid cartilage attached to the skull, followed by the stylohyoid, epihyoid, keratohyoid, basihyoid, and thyrohyoid bones. SYN: a. hyoideus.- a. hyoideus SYN: hyoid a..- Kjeldahl a. an a. for distilling ammonia arising from acid decomposition of an organic compound; used in nitrogen analysis.- lacrimal a. [TA] consisting of the lacrimal gland, the lacrimal lake, the lacrimal canaliculi, the lacrimal sac, and the nasolacrimal duct. SYN: a. lacrimalis [TA].- a. lacrimalis [TA] SYN: lacrimal a..- a. ligamentosus colli SYN: ligamentum nuchae.- mental a. mental structure consisting of thoughts, feelings, cognitions, and memories; in psychoanalysis, the topographic structure of the mind.- pyriform a. a pear-shaped structure within the eggshell of certain tapeworms (family Anoplocephalidae), of uncertain function.- a. respiratorius SYN: respiratory system.- Roughton-Scholander a. a syringe-like device for analyzing the respiratory gases in a small sample of blood. SYN: Roughton-Scholander syringe.- Scholander a. a device used for determining the oxygen and carbon dioxide percentage in 0.5 ml of a respiratory gas.- a. suspensorius lentis SYN: ciliary zonule.- Tiselius a. an a. for separating proteins in solution by electrophoresis and thus for determining the isoelectric point, molecular weight, and related physical properties; the direction and rate of migration of the protein and the characteristics of the boundary phase between the protein solution and the supernatant salt solution are recorded by photography of the changes in refractive index at the boundary.- a. urogenitalis SYN: urogenital system.- vestibular a. the receptor organ of the vestibular portion of the 8th cranial nerve, consisting of the three semicircular canals and the otolith, located within the petrous portion of the temporal bone of the skull.- Warburg a. an a. for measuring the oxygen consumption of incubated tissue slices by manometric measurement of changes in gas pressure produced by oxygen absorption in an enclosed flask. SYN: Barcroft-Warburg a..
* * *ap·pa·ra·tus .ap-ə-'rat-əs, -'rāt- n, pl -tus·es or -tus a group of anatomical and cytological parts having a common function <the respiratory \apparatus> see GOLGI APPARATUS
* * *ap·pa·ra·tus (ap″ə-răґtəs) pl. apparatus or apparatuses [L., from ad- to + parare to make ready] an arrangement of a number of parts acting together in the performance of some special function; used in anatomical nomenclature to designate a number of structures or organs which act together in serving some particular function.
Medical dictionary. 2011.