Ultrasonography

Ultrasonography, also known as ultrasound imaging, is a diagnostic imaging technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the internal organs and structures within the body. The principle of this technology involves the use of a transducer, a handheld device that sends sound waves into the body. These waves bounce back when they hit a boundary between tissues, like the boundary between fluid and soft tissue, or soft tissue and bone.

The transducer also captures the reflected waves, which are then analyzed by a computer to produce an image. The resulting image can then be used for medical analysis. Because ultrasonography does not use ionizing radiation like X-rays, it is generally considered safe and is widely used in many different areas of medicine.

Some of the common applications of ultrasonography include:

1. Obstetrics and Gynecology: Ultrasonography is often used during pregnancy to monitor the health and development of the fetus. It can also be used to examine the uterus and ovaries for any potential issues.

2. Cardiology: In a procedure called an echocardiogram, ultrasonography is used to produce images of the heart to assess its structure and function.

3. Radiology: Ultrasonography can be used to view the kidneys, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, and other organs. It is also used to guide needles for biopsies.

4. Musculoskeletal: Ultrasonography can be used to image muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and soft tissue throughout the body.

5. Emergency Medicine: It is used in emergency situations to quickly get images of the abdomen (termed as FAST scan in trauma cases - Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about imaging the human body. For imaging of animals in research, see Preclinical imaging. For therapeutic use of ultrasound, see Focused ultrasound.
"Echography" and "Echograph" redirect here. Not to be confused with Ecography and Echo sounding.

Medical ultrasound
Sonographer carrying out echocardiography on a child
ICD-10-PCS	B?4
ICD-9-CM	88.7
MeSH	D014463
OPS-301 code	3-03...3-05
[edit on Wikidata]

Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques (mainly imaging techniques) using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs, to measure some characteristics (e.g. distances and velocities) or to generate an informative audible sound. The usage of ultrasound to produce visual images for medicine is called medical ultrasonography or simply sonography, or echography. The practice of examining pregnant women using ultrasound is called obstetric ultrasonography, and was an early development of clinical ultrasonography. The machine used is called an ultrasound machine, a sonograph or an echograph. The visual image formed using this technique is called an ultrasonogram, a sonogram or an echogram.

Ultrasound of carotid artery

Ultrasound is composed of sound waves with frequencies greater than 20,000 Hz, which is by approximation the upper threshold of human hearing.[1] Ultrasonic images, also known as sonograms, are created by sending pulses of ultrasound into tissue using a probe. The ultrasound pulses echo off tissues with different reflection properties and are returned to the probe which records and displays them as an image.

An ultrasound result on fetal biometry printed on a piece of paper

A general-purpose ultrasonic transducer may be used for most imaging purposes but some situations may require the use of a specialized transducer. Most ultrasound examination is done using a transducer on the surface of the body, but improved visualization is often possible if a transducer can be placed inside the body. For this purpose, special-use transducers, including transvaginal, endorectal, and transesophageal transducers are commonly employed. At the extreme, very small transducers can be mounted on small diameter catheters and placed within blood vessels to image the walls and disease of those vessels.