PCT could stand for many things. In the medical field, PCT means a Patient Care Technician. They are paraprofessionals. PCT could also mean Private Communication Technology in the Computer field. It is a protocol developed by Microsoft. In the surgical or anatomical area, PCT implies something else. It stands for proximal convoluted tubule, part of the Vertebrate nephron. PCT is also an international law with a full form Patent Cooperation Treaty.
A patient care technician is demonstrated as an unlicensed paraprofessional who assists professionals in taking care of patients. These patients are usually with mental disabilities or adults in need of care.
Full Form of PCT
As we discussed, the PCT abbreviation is interpreted in many ways. It has different meanings in medicine, surgery, laws, and security. It is the name of the body part of our vertebrate nephron. PCT is also the name of a security protocol designed by Microsoft. PCT is also an international law regarding patents. PCT is also for people who assist in taking care of patients who need care daily.
Let’s look at all of these full forms of PCT one by one in detail. There are four more additional full forms of PCT. These are:
Patient Care Technician
Patient Care Technicians assist an individual in need of daily care. They are usually people with mental disabilities and physical impairments with daily activities that they cannot perform.
They do this by understanding the supervision of a professional nurse who has a license or other healthcare professional. Once they display that they are responsible and have gained experience, they perform advanced clinical responsibilities.
They are also required to have essential qualities in taking care of a patient. They include bedside manner, compassion, patience, and respect towards the patient. To provide the best care to the patient, the communication between the Patient Care Technicians and the nurses should have proper communication.
Private Communications Technology
Private Communications Technology was developed by Microsoft around 1995. It is a protocol. It was designed to fix the security flaws in the 2nd version of Netscape’s Secure Sockets Layer.
This made Netscape give up the control of then-proprietary SSL protocol. It was handed over to an open standards body.
Then later, SSLv3 and the Transport Layer Security protocols were launched, and they dominated the market over the Private communications Technology protocol. PCT was supported by Internet Explorer back then. But later, IE5 disabled it, and IE6 completely removed it.
Since not many people use it and there’s a lot of security risk with Private communications Technology protocol, it hasn’t been tested well. Due to it not being a commercial success, Microsoft hasn’t been maintaining its implementation.
Proximal Convoluted Tubule
The proximal convoluted tubule is also called the Proximal tubule.
It’s named so since it’s a convoluted portion. It is part of the Vertebrate Nephron. It is positioned between the Loop of Henle and the Bowman’s capsule. PCT’s main job is to reabsorb sodium, sugar, water, and chloride ions from the glomerular filtrate. PCT can be regarded as a part of the digestive system as well.
The Patent Cooperation Treaty
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is a law started in 1970. PCT gave a uniform and standard system for filing applications for a patent. It was for preventing inventions. When the PCT law files a patent application, it is called the PCT application or international application. A PCT application is designed in the Receiving Office in a single language.
The International Searching Authority then performs a search. Then hand-written advice or opinion is formed regarding whether an invention is worth a patent.
Patient Care Technician
Patient Care Technicians do not hold any certifications or any license. There is no need for any professional qualifications to become a Patient Care Technician. They come under the category of personal care workers in health services under the International standard classification of occupations. Even though they don’t hold any license, they are essential healthcare community members.
Private Communications Technology
Private Communications Technology differs from the SSL protocol in many ways. The structures of messages and that of rounds are somewhat simple and short. The only news is passed in each direction when a session is reconnected, and the client authentication hasn’t been done. No other type of connection is needed.
The message authentication is improved. This means message authentication makes use of different keys than encryption keys. Hence message authentication is much more secure in this protocol. However, the drawbacks are that it also takes a bit longer.
Conclusion
PCT has many full forms. PCT is the Private Communication Technology which is a protocol designed by Microsoft. Although it fixed security breaches in SSL and Netscape Security Sockets layer protocol, it wasn’t a great success, so Microsoft couldn’t maintain it. PCT also means Proximal Convoluted Tubule, a part of the kidney that helps in the reabsorption of water, salts, and sugar from the glomerular filtrate. PCT means a Patient Care Technician who assists in the daily care of patients who can’t perform daily activities independently. PCT is a Patent Cooperation Treaty that was formed in 1970.