In regard of providing more explanations to our followers on medical procedures and their corresponding equipment, amarebe.com has prepared the important post on the medical diagnostic technique called “Medical Ultrasound”
What is a medical ultrasound procedure?
Medical ultrasound (also known as diagnostic sonography or ultrasonography) is a diagnostic imaging technique based on the application of ultrasound. It is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons,muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs by involving the use of a small transducers (probes) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin.
The high-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back (echoes) and a computer then uses those sound waves to create an image also known as sonograms which will be finally displayed on the high definition monitor.
The aim of this medical procedure is often to find a source of a disease or to exclude pathology. It is additionally applicable for examining pregnant women where it is called obstetric ultrasound, and was an early development and application of clinical ultrasonography.
Remember that the ultrasound refers to sound waves with frequencies which are higher than those audible to humans (>20 KHz) and that the corresponding medical equipment is called “Ultrasound machine”
What are some common uses of this procedure?
Ultrasound examinations can help to diagnose a variety of conditions and to assess organ damage following illness by evaluating some symptoms such as pain, swelling,infection etc
Many body’s internal organs can be examined by this procedure including but not limited to the:
- Heart and blood vessels,Liver, gallbladders,pancreas,kidneys, bladder.
- Ovaries, and unborn child (fetus) in pregnant patients
- Thyroid and parathyroid gland
- Scrotum(testicles)
- Brain in infants
Ultrasound is also used to guide other procedures such as needles biopsies, in which needles are used to sample cells from an abnormal area for laboratory testing.
What will patient experience during and after the procedure?
Ultrasound examinations are painless and easily tolerated by most patients.
Ultrasound exams in which the transducer is inserted into an opening of the body may produce minimal discomfort.
If a Doppler ultrasound study is performed, you may actually hear pulse-like sounds that change in pitch as the blood flow is monitored and measured.
Most ultrasound examinations are completed within 30 minutes, although more extensive exams may take up to an hour.
After an ultrasound examination, you should be able to resume your normal activities immediately.
What are advantages and drawbacks of ultrasound imaging procedure?
Compared to other dominant methods of medical imaging, ultrasound has several advantages such as:
To provide images in real-time and is portable and flexible to be even brought to the bedside.
It is substantially lower in cost than other imaging modalities and does not use harmful ionizing radiation.
Drawbacks include various limits on its field of view, such as the need for patient cooperation, dependence on physique, difficulty imaging structures behind bone and air, and the necessity of a skilled operator, usually a trained professional
