About Ultrasounds
When it comes to seeing inside the body, the Ultrasound machine is revolutionary. Before the Ultrasound came into existence doctors were only able to see the inside of the body through surgery. This device today is not only being used for diagnostic testing but is now used for treatment. We have come a long way from the early days of initial development of the ultrasound. Find out what kinds of ultrasounds are being used and for what purpose.
History
Doctor Karl Theodore Dussik of Austria wrote first about medical ultrasonics in 1942. Professor Ian Donald of Scotland first developed the technology for Ultrasound in the 1950s. However, it wasn't until1964 when Professor Stuart Campbell in England opened the first fully equipped Ultrasound unit. His area of study, along with Dr. James Willock's, was placentography and Cephalometry. With the Ultrasound advice they found that they could measure the size of the placenta throughout the entire time of gestation. In 1975, in the Landmark paper in London, he reported that the diagnosis of Spina Bifida was possible using the Ultrasound device. In 1982 Campbell began investigating the use of the device to detect ovarian cancer, pre-eclampsia and ovarian follicular developments.
Features
Using 20,000 or more vibrations of sound waves per second, the technician will place a device called a transducer on your body. Moving it over the area needing viewing it sends these waves into the body. The sound waves bounce off the tissues in the body. The waves bounce back to the transducer and are recorded. The recorded information is immediately converted to images on the screen. These sound waves are at a frequency higher than what humans can see,
Types
Ultrasounds are also known by the name sonograms. This diagnostic device comes in different types.
Abdominal ultrasound: This is the most common use of ultrasound used for viewing an unborn child. The transducer is placed on the belling of a pregnant woman. At a 3.5 to 5 MHz frequency the sound waves get internally pulsed to get an image of the baby. This method is usually used when the woman is 12 weeks or more pregnant.
Vaginal ultrasound: For pregnancies less than 12 weeks the vaginal ultrasound is typically used. A probe is gently placed inside the woman's vagina. This method allows the technician to have a closer look at the uterus. It is especially important if there is a need to get a sound of the baby's heartbeat. The vaginal ultrasound will be able to pick up the sound of the heart beat, if the fetus is at least six weeks old.
Doppler ultrasound: Where Abdominal and Vaginal ultrasounds use the rate of pulse sound waves-Doppler uses continuous ones. The Doppler ultrasound is performed the same way as the abdominal one. However, the purpose is to view the movement of blood through particular vessels. One common use of it is to monitor the flow of blood between the uterus to the placenta. The activity of blood flow through the baby's umbilical cord is another reason to use the Doppler ultrasound.
Listening to the baby's heartbeat: With a frequency of 2MHz and the use of a Sonocaid also known as a hand-held portable Doppler, a medical field expert can "pick up" the sound of the baby's heartbeat.
3D and 4D ultrasounds. In the late 1990's 3D ultrasounds became available for the mainstream medical use. However, because they are much higher in cost they are not widely used. 3D images are produce to show a more life-like image. 4D images show the baby in "real time" and allow the technician or doctor to study the activity of the pre-born infant. While 2D uses a series of thin slices of the image-3D and 4D images use thousands of sliced images at a time.
Potential
As early as 2002 the medical field was in development of a new kind of ultrasound device. This one was not only to identify problems but to solve them. Dr. Lawrence Crum, associate team leader for the Smart Medical Systems Team for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), states that, "with the High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), we increase the amplitude of the ultrasound. Instead of dispersing the ultrasound in a fan-like arrangement, which gives you internal images, we focus the ultrasound like a magnifying glass." This is good news. The ultrasound is increased in intensity and produces heat inside the body. With a pinpoint accuracy it avoids damaging good tissue and only focuses on bad tissue such as tumors.
Prevention/Solution
There are other diseases and problems that you wouldn't think an ultrasound would be able to detect. These include Abnormal spleens, liver cancer, Gallstones, Cysts or abnormal growths in the liver or pancreas. The ultrasound device has proven to be enormously useful in the medical field.
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