Ultrasound

Abdominal ultrasound is a scanning technique used to image the interior of the abdomen. Like the X-ray, MRI, and CT scan, it has its place as a diagnostic tool. Ultrasound scans use high frequency sound waves to produce an image and do not expose the individual to radiation. The procedure is painless and safe.

The ultrasound has become a standard procedure used during pregnancy. It can demonstrate fetal growth and can detect increasing numbers of conditions in the fetus including meningomyelocele, congenital heart disease, kidney abnormalities, hydrocephalus, anencephaly, club feet, and other deformities. Ultrasound does not produce ionizing radiation and is considered a very safe procedure for both the mother and the fetus.

During seventeen to twenty weeks of development, fetal movements known as quickening are commonly felt by the mother.

Around 30 weeks, the growth of the brain markedly increases. Most systems are well developed, and the fetus can see and hear. A baby may survive if born this early, although the lungs may still be immature.

Carotid duplex is an ultrasound procedure performed to assess blood flow through the carotid artery to the brain. High-frequency sound waves are directed from a hand-held transducer probe to the area. These waves bounce off the arterial structures and produce a 2-dimensional image on a monitor, which will make obstructions or narrowing of the arteries visible.

To demonstrate how an ultrasound works, imagine this tennis ball as an internal organ in the body. Like many organs, the tennis ball is solid on the outside and hollow on the inside. Solid structures, such as bones and muscles, reflect sound waves from the ultrasound transducer and show up as white in an ultrasound image. Soft or hollow areas, like chambers of the heart, do not reflect sound waves and appear as black. The white ring is the outer edge of the tennis ball being reflected back as an image while the center hollow area remains as black.

Thyroid ultrasound is a sound wave picture of the thyroid gland taken by a hand-held instrument and translated to a 2-dimensional picture on a monitor. It is used in diagnosis of tumors, cysts or goiters of the thyroid, and is a painless, no-risk procedure.

Ultrasound is a scanning technique used to image the growing fetus. The transducer portion emits inaudible sound waves, which fan out as they travel through your abdomen. When they hit dense structures like the fetus and the wall of your uterus, the sound waves bounce back to the transducer and are translated into a visual image by the computer.

This is a normal fetal ultrasound performed at 17 weeks gestation. The development of the brain and nervous system begins early in fetal development. During an ultrasound, the technician usually looks for the presence of brain ventricles. Ventricles are spaces in the brain that are filled with fluid. In this early ultrasound, the ventricles can be seen as light lines extending through the skull, seen in the upper right side of the image.

3D ultrasound provides a three dimensional image of the fetus. Sound waves are sent at different angles by the transducer for the computer to reconstruct the height, width, and depth of the image.

Abdominal ultrasound is a scanning technique used to image the interior of the abdomen. Like the X-ray, MRI, and CT scan, it has its place as a diagnostic tool. Ultrasound scans use high frequency sound waves to produce an image and do not expose the individual to radiation. The procedure is painless and safe.

The ultrasound has become a standard procedure used during pregnancy. It can demonstrate fetal growth and can detect increasing numbers of conditions in the fetus including meningomyelocele, congenital heart disease, kidney abnormalities, hydrocephalus, anencephaly, club feet, and other deformities. Ultrasound does not produce ionizing radiation and is considered a very safe procedure for both the mother and the fetus.

During seventeen to twenty weeks of development, fetal movements known as quickening are commonly felt by the mother.

Around 30 weeks, the growth of the brain markedly increases. Most systems are well developed, and the fetus can see and hear. A baby may survive if born this early, although the lungs may still be immature.

Carotid duplex is an ultrasound procedure performed to assess blood flow through the carotid artery to the brain. High-frequency sound waves are directed from a hand-held transducer probe to the area. These waves bounce off the arterial structures and produce a 2-dimensional image on a monitor, which will make obstructions or narrowing of the arteries visible.

To demonstrate how an ultrasound works, imagine this tennis ball as an internal organ in the body. Like many organs, the tennis ball is solid on the outside and hollow on the inside. Solid structures, such as bones and muscles, reflect sound waves from the ultrasound transducer and show up as white in an ultrasound image. Soft or hollow areas, like chambers of the heart, do not reflect sound waves and appear as black. The white ring is the outer edge of the tennis ball being reflected back as an image while the center hollow area remains as black.

Thyroid ultrasound is a sound wave picture of the thyroid gland taken by a hand-held instrument and translated to a 2-dimensional picture on a monitor. It is used in diagnosis of tumors, cysts or goiters of the thyroid, and is a painless, no-risk procedure.

Ultrasound is a scanning technique used to image the growing fetus. The transducer portion emits inaudible sound waves, which fan out as they travel through your abdomen. When they hit dense structures like the fetus and the wall of your uterus, the sound waves bounce back to the transducer and are translated into a visual image by the computer.

This is a normal fetal ultrasound performed at 17 weeks gestation. The development of the brain and nervous system begins early in fetal development. During an ultrasound, the technician usually looks for the presence of brain ventricles. Ventricles are spaces in the brain that are filled with fluid. In this early ultrasound, the ventricles can be seen as light lines extending through the skull, seen in the upper right side of the image.

3D ultrasound provides a three dimensional image of the fetus. Sound waves are sent at different angles by the transducer for the computer to reconstruct the height, width, and depth of the image.