Heart’s electrical activity will be recorded continuously for 24/48 hours in a small walkman like box which enables the children to carry on with routine activities at school or home. Children will be asked to keep a diary of symptoms as well. This would help to check whether they had any abnormal electrical activity when they had symptoms like racing heart beat or blackouts.

For: Children having black outs, palpitations etc., everyday

ECG leads will be connected to a walkman like apparatus. But, unlike 24hr ECG the recording only takes place when the children choose to record when they get symptoms.

For: Children having black outs, palpitations once or twice a week

ECG recorded when a child is on a tread mill. This could be combined with Lung function test.

For: Children having black outs, palpitations or difficulty to breathe while exercising.

This an ultrasound scan of the heart like the one pregnant mothers have to look at the babies. This will help to look at the heart structures and functions of the heart. A gel is applied on the chest and an electronic probe placed on top of it will send sound waves, which will be read by a computer which projects the images on a screen. This will detect hole in the heart walls, thickness of the heart chambers, leak or narrowing across the heart valves etc.,

For: Children having heart murmurs or with a family history of heart muscle abnormalities.

Child will be asked to take a deep breath and then blow into a small tube connected to a hand held machine with a strong blow and keep on continuing to blow until he empties the lung. This would be done before and after administering a bronchodilator (a spray medicine that relaxes small wind pipes in the lungs) to check the lung capacity and the effectiveness of the medicine. This could be combined with a stress test when children will be put on a treadmill to exercise to see whether exercise affects their lung function

For: Children suspected of asthma or exercise induced cough, breathlessness or wheezing

Using ultrasound, children’s internal organs like liver, kidneys including brain in infants could be visualised looking for structural abnormalities.

For: Children with kidney/urine infections, large head, joint infections, swellings in the body

Like an ECG, electrode stickers are placed on the scalp to record the electrical activity of the brain. This would help to look at the function of the brain.

For: Children suspected to have epilepsy or brain infections.

Electrical activity of the brain is recorded while the child is put to sleep with natural hormone that brings sleep to us.

For: Children suspected to have epilepsy while sleeping.

Internal organs of the children could be visualised head to toe using magnetic rays without risk of any radiation. Child will be lying on a special bed which slides into a doughnut shaped tunnel which sends images to a computer.

For: Children suspected to have tumours, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, seizures

Children who react immediately with skin rash and swelling to foods or who have uncontrolled asthma, cough etc., could be checked for specific allergens. This would involve either  a blood test or a skin prick test - where a small drop containing a diluted amount of allergen will be scratched into the skin.

For: Children suspected to have food and other allergies, uncontrolled asthma, cough

Children requiring blood tests to rule out anaemia or other blood disorders, to check liver, kidney, thyroid, immune system functions, celiac tests, bone minerals or chromosome/ genetic tests.

For: Children with recurrent infections, abdominal pain, poor appetite, poor weight gain etc.,