Ultrasound is widely used in medical imaging. It has a good number of uses. Some important details and information about its basics are given below.
What Is Ultrasound?
It is a technique in medical imaging which uses high frequency sound waves to expose the human body and then produces pictures of the organs or parts. It is also called sonography. However, they do not use ionizing radiation like in X-Ray. It is important to note that the pictures taken with ultrasound are real time pictures and they can show the movement of the parts.
How It Works?
The procedure of ultrasound is just like sonar. As the sound waves are used, they bounce back when they strike an object. By measuring the waves, experts can find out how far the object is located. It then helps in finding the shape, size and other properties of the objects.
Why Ultrasound?
We know that radiologists use ultrasounds widely in their profession. Its use has increased manifold over the years due to the increasing number of patients, population increase and higher dependency of the doctors on medical imaging for diagnosis and treatment.
It is a fact that no radiations are used in ultrasound which makes it more appealing, user-friendly, cost-efficient, and an easy option to take body pictures. It is applied in cardiology, obstetrics, internal medicine, urology and others. Experts also use ultrasound for tumor therapy purposes.
Uses of Ultrasound
- It is known to everyone that in order to spot any injury, damage or infection of the body organs, ultrasound is used.
- Doctors commonly use ultrasound to know the real problem with the patients.
- If there is any sort of pain, ultrasound is helpful for detection.
- For swelling, infection and blood in urine, doctors also recommend to get ultrasound.
- Many body organs like liver, spleen, gallbladder, kidneys, pancreas, and others undergo ultrasound tests to find out possible issues.
- For breast cancer diagnosis, experts recommend the use of ultrasound.
- Many heart conditions are also diagnosed with the help of ultrasound.
- If there is any sort of blockage to blood flow, the doctors can view it with the help of ultrasound tests.
History
If you’re wondering what is PACS server or how does medical imaging work and how the idea of ultrasound started, read this:
The history of ultrasound is very old. It was 1877 when theory of sound was used for this purpose. Between the 1880s and 1914, many developments occurred. But the first official ultrasound was developed in 1914. Initially they used ultrasound for material testing.
In 1942, the first use of ultrasound was found in the medical profession. Soon after the Second World War, doctors and medical professionals started working on how ultrasound can be better used in medical imaging. All this led to the boom of ultrasound in medical imaging in 1960s.
In the early 1970s, grey scale images of internal body were created. In mid 1970s, real time imaging became possible. And then came 1980 when the experts were able to produce colored medical images.
Conclusion
Ultrasound has become an integral part of medical imaging. It helps diagnose diseases and channels the proper treatment for patients. Feeling excited? Educate others by explaining how does medical imaging work in the comments. It will be fun!
