How to Use spinal tap in a Sentence

spinal tap

noun
  • Both drugs are delivered through a spinal tap.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The results of the spinal tap came back with 13 oligoclonal bands.
    — Michelle Maves, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
  • He was scheduled for a biopsy and a spinal tap—last-ditch efforts to find the source of his illness.
    — Zoya Teirstein, Wired, 25 Sep. 2021
  • First the femoral artery line, next the catheter, then the many cannulas, and finally the spinal tap.
    — David Freyne, Time, 7 Dec. 2025
  • Also, spinal taps can show whether amyloid and tau proteins are present in cerebrospinal fluid.
    — New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020
  • He was headed for a spinal tap and chemotherapy treatment that would take seven hours and a whole day of fasting.
    — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 14 Feb. 2022
  • Even then, the tests are very expensive and cumbersome, involving brain scans and spinal taps.
    — Alison Abbott, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2018
  • But confirming the deficiency requires a spinal tap, which can be painful.
    — Jon Hamilton, NPR, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The second is a spinal tap, which is cheaper—to the tune of hundreds of dollars—and is covered by insurance.
    — Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz, 30 July 2020
  • There, a spinal tap led to a diagnosis of meningitis caused by Valley fever.
    — Fox News, 3 Feb. 2023
  • Sometimes, a spinal tap is given too, and the fluid is analyzed for signs of MS.
    — Lisa Mulcahy, Good Housekeeping, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Biogen is also picking up some of the laboratory costs for patients who get a spinal tap.
    — Julie Appleby, CNN, 23 July 2021
  • But after the spinal tap and a PET scan, the doctors called asking the couple to come in.
    — Joe Sexton, ProPublica, 12 Oct. 2020
  • Gust explained that spinal taps on these patients show high levels of cytokines floating in the fluid surrounding the spine and brain.
    — Ilana Yurkiewicz, Smithsonian, 26 Oct. 2019
  • Brain imaging, bloodwork and a spinal tap were among the procedures that Aislynn underwent.
    — Terry Demio, The Enquirer, 5 May 2022
  • One of the initiatives Petty is working on with Morris is a demonstration of a spinal tap.
    — Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz, 19 July 2019
  • The researchers confirmed whether or not patients had Alzheimer’s using spinal tap or PET scan.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 July 2024
  • Her five-month struggle has meant specialists, drugs, a spinal tap, imaging scans and 15 hospital visits.
    — WSJ, 28 Aug. 2020
  • This type of narcolepsy is often confirmed by a spinal tap showing a lack of the neurotransmitter orexin.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024
  • These tests include either a PET scan or a lumbar puncture, otherwise known as a spinal tap.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 10 July 2023
  • The doctor performed a spinal tap, plunging a 31/2-inch needle into his spine on three occasions.
    — David Moore, Dallas News, 25 Mar. 2020
  • The trial would include gene therapy with medication delivered through a spinal tap.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
  • Central oxytocin was in most cases measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) via spinal tap .
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 3 May 2017
  • Each painful spinal tap produced less than a quarter of a teaspoon of fluid, and the amount and quality depended on who was doing the procedure.
    — Jason Dearen, Star Tribune, 23 Feb. 2021
  • What researchers are trying to do is come up with a blood test that could kind of detect this protein in your blood, rather than having to go to that extra step of the spinal tap or the brain scan.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 27 Apr. 2022
  • Other tests may include tissue sampling or a spinal tap called a lumbar puncture during which fluid is removed from two bones in the lower spine for testing.
    — Clare Fisher, Peoplemag, 11 Jan. 2024
  • Doctors diagnosed it by doing a lumbar puncture, or spinal tap, to analyze their cerebrospinal fluid.
    — Erika Edwards, NBC news, 2 Apr. 2026
  • MRIs, CT scans, spinal taps, along with discoveries about the brain’s chemistry have changed our view of migraine.
    — Sibbie O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 10 June 2019
  • Meningitis testing includes an MRI and a lumbar puncture, also called a spinal tap.
    — Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 14 June 2023
  • The main problem is that measuring this type of pressure requires an invasive procedure, such as a spinal tap or drilling a hole in one’s skull, which cannot safely be done in space.
    — Alex Stuckey, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spinal tap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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