Ultrasound

How Ultrasound Imaging Works?

Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body’s internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels.

Ultrasound imaging is usually a painless medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.

Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images.

A Doppler ultrasound study may be part of an ultrasound examination.

Doppler ultrasound is a special ultrasound technique that evaluates blood as it flows through a blood vessel, including the body’s major arteries and veins in the abdomen, arms, legs and neck.

Ultrasound examinations can help to diagnose a variety of conditions and to assess organ damage following illness. Ultrasound is used to help physicians diagnose symptoms such as:

• Pain
• Swelling
• Infection

Ultrasound is a useful way of examining many of the body’s internal organs, including but not limited to the:

• Heart and blood vessels, including the abdominal aorta and its major branches
• Liver
• Gallbladder
• Spleen
• Pancreas
• Kidneys
• Bladder
• Uterus, ovaries, and unborn child in pregnant patients
• Eyes
• Thyroid and parathyroid glands
• Scrotum (testicles)
• Joints – shoulder, wrist

Ultrasound is also used to:

• Guide procedures such as needle biopsies, in which needles are used to extract sample cells from an abnormal area for laboratory testing.
• Guide procedures such as steroid injections