Ultrasounds

A Patient’s Kidney

A Patient’s Right Femoral vein

A patient’s Transverse Aorta

A view of a patient’s heart taken in our office

A side view of a patient’s heart taken in our office

An ultrasound of a patient’s bladder taken in our office

Medical ultrasounds falls into two distinct categories: diagnostic and therapeutic.

 

Diagnostic ultrasound is a non-invasive diagnostic technique used to image inside the body. Ultrasound probes, called transducers, produce sound waves that have frequencies above the threshold of human hearing (above 20KHz) In addition, ultrasound is sometimes used during surgery by placing a sterile probe into the area being operated on.  

Diagnostic ultrasound can be further sub-divided into anatomical and functional ultrasound. Anatomical ultrasound produces images of internal organs or other structures. Functional ultrasound combines information such as the movement and velocity of tissue or blood, softness or hardness of tissue, and other physical characteristics, with anatomical images to create “information maps.” These maps help doctors visualize changes/differences in function within a structure or organ.

How does it work?
 
This is a picture of a technician giving a pregnant woman an ultrasound. There is an image of the fetus on the computer monitor.
Source: Terese Winslow

Ultrasound waves are produced by a transducer, which can both emit ultrasound waves, as well as detect the ultrasound echoes reflected back. In most cases, the active elements in ultrasound transducers are made of special ceramic crystal materials called piezoelectrics. These materials are able to produce sound waves when an electric field is applied to them, but can also work in reverse, producing an electric field when a sound wave hits them. When used in an ultrasound scanner, the transducer sends out a beam of sound waves into the body. The sound waves are reflected back to the transducer by boundaries between tissues in the path of the beam (e.g. the boundary between fluid and soft tissue or tissue and bone). When these echoes hit the transducer, they generate electrical signals that are sent to the ultrasound scanner. Using the speed of sound and the time of each echo’s return, the scanner calculates the distance from the transducer to the tissue boundary. These distances are then used to generate two-dimensional images of tissues and organs.

Image of an ultrasound transducer
An ultrasound transducer.

During an ultrasound exam, the technician will apply a gel to the skin. This keeps air pockets from forming between the transducer and the skin, which can block ultrasound waves from passing into the body.

 

 
Call our office today and schedule your ultrasound today: (909) 882-0988
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