Cranial Ultrasound

Being able to identify lumps, swelling, tissue damage, cysts, and the overwhelming news of the sex of a baby all have something in common, an ultrasound. Swelling of the spleen, kidney stones, blood clots, aneurysms, cancer and so much more can be identified through the works of an ultrasound’s imaging technique. Ultrasound involves many concepts, procedures, and careers. The amount of medical possibilities involved with ultrasounds is useful in major medical diagnostics. The field of ultrasounds and career opportunities are widely growing. As medical careers flourish, needs for technicians in many fields of medicine are increasing. Instead of a doctor choosing complex and risky surgery to find out problems within the body, they can now

Ultrasound imaging has many uses in medicine, from confirming and dating a pregnancy to diagnosing certain conditions and guiding doctors through precise medical procedures

Dr. Fox is an emergency physician at UCI Medical Center, treating and diagnosing patients using an ultrasound. His scope of research involves looking at patients’ internal organs via ultrasound, which is much quicker and less harmful than using x-ray scans that are traditionally used in emergency departments. He is also a part of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (“Faculty and Staff”). Dr. Fox is also a director of instructional ultrasound and is the assistant dean at the UCI School of Medicine (“John Christian Fox”). He started an ultrasound rotation at the UCI School of Medicine, and with a grant given by SonoSite, Inc., the ultrasound curriculum is now embedded within the UCI School of Medicine curriculum (“Faculty and Staff”). He went to Tufts University School of Medicine, receiving his MD in 1997 (“John Christian Fox”). His main research focus is to try to incorporate ultrasound more into the emergency department, and tries to find revolutionary ways to utilize ultrasound, especially because it is very cost-efficient and images are seen real-time, unlike MRI scans or x-rays, which can emit harmful radiation or results take much longer to acquire. Eric Viquez is one of the Bio 199/EMRAP (Emergency Medicine Research Associates Program) students in Dr. Fox’s ultrasound lab. He is currently a 4th year undergraduate biological sciences major who is going to medical school in the fall; he shadows shifts with Dr. Fox and

During a pregnancy, many expecting mothers will travel to the doctor to have a check up with how the pregnancy is doing. Many mothers will get done a special procedure that is called an ultrasound. An ultrasound is a procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to scan a woman’s abdomen and pelvic cavity, creating a picture (sonogram) of the baby and the placenta.(2-1) Ultrasounds may be performed at any point during a pregnancy, and the results are seen immediately on a monitor during the procedure.(2-2) The ultrasound doesn’t hurt the mother or the fetus. There are many situations where ultrasounds can be used. Some doctors will use an ultrasound to look at someone’s abdomen, especially if there is stomach pains and nausea present. One

Ultrasounds are performed when medically necessary. According to the article, Prenatal Diagnosis of Microcephaly, ultrasound during pregnancy, “has not been associated with adverse maternal, fetal, or neonatal outcomes”. It continues to say that, “ultrasound is safe for the fetus when used appropriately”. This is a safe tool that gives the doctors a better idea of what is wrong with a patient without performing unnecessary surgery. Ultrasounds have been a key instrument in aiding the diagnosis of medical conditions for many years and continues to become more efficient and accurate in time. Although ultrasounds can be used for many reasons all throughout the body, the main

In some areas there is good evidence that adequately trained emergency physicians can perform and interpret limited ultrasound scan, in other areas larger multicentre studies are still required. For clinical governance adequate training of all users is essential as is audit of their performance. Ultrasound has largely replaced CT scanning and plain radiology as well as invasive procedures with their inherent risks as the first line investigation in many medical emergencies As technology continues to advance it is likely that ultrasound will have an increasing role to play in emergency medicine both in hospital and prehospital settings. It is essential that training and evaluation through well conducted research keep pace with these advances to ensure they are to be to the benefit not detriment of patient

Gill, R., 2012. The physics and technology of diagnostic ultrasound: a practitioner's guide. Abbotsford, N.S.W.: High Frequency Publishing.

Ultrasonography is an imaging modality that gives way to seeing within the human body and the structures that inhabit it. One main interest of ultrasound would be to visualize internal organs–such as the kidneys—and measure the dimensions they possess in order to understand more about them. Kidneys are retroperitoneal organs that appear as bean-shaped structures in the abdomen. Kidneys aid in systemic responsibilities such as the following: “to regulate blood pressure, to maintain levels of electrolytes, and to prevent buildup of wastes and extra fluid in the body” (Young, 2015). The parameters of kidneys on ultrasound can tell a lot about each kidney’s structure and function, if any. Renal ultrasound exams are important in clinical use because “in many renal disorders, it is known that there is a close relationship between renal size and its function” (Arooj, 2011). For instance, a kidney

Sonograms are cheaper than many of the other options available to gain information about a baby still inside its mother, for example MRI’s, but this in no way takes away their value. Sonograms are a great choice for the reason that while being cheap they give accurate and important information almost instantly. The growth of technology has allowed for sonogram equipment to become more compact, creating a portable and handheld device that comes in handy in many situations. It is easy to transfer not only across the hospital, but also across the

Transrectal ultrasounds provide a safe testing method to get images of what’s going on inside of your body while avoiding exposure to radiation. If the doctor doesn’t do a biopsy during the test, most people won’t experience any side effects. If the doctor performs a biopsy, there may be some side effects like:

As mentioned earlier scars or metal in the abdomen can absorb or deflect the ultrasound beam causing pain and severe burns skin burns. This can sometimes be avoided by

Today, owing to the improvement of the study methodology using oral solution with SICUS (Small intestine contrast ultrasound) modality, the US can compete with methods considered more careful with clear advantages in children.

Ultrasound – used to measure a specific area on the back of a baby’s neck. This is known as nuchal translucency and may signal a problem if more fluid than usual tends to collect in the neck tissue.

Ultrasound is acoustic energy with a frequency at about 20kHz which is above the capability of human hearing. It is more commonly used in the medical field than food industry. In the medical field, the most significant usage of ultrasound is in sonographic scanners. As these scanners work at 2-18MHz, it produces smaller wavelength which is able to make sonogram of smaller details. As such, ultrasound sound based imaging technique is used to visualize body structures and tissues (Carovac, Smajlovic, & Junuzovic, 2011). Ultrasound contributes to the food industry via its acoustic cavitation in food and dairy processing. For example, extraction using ultrasound technology has shown to increase yield of high value food ingredients while emulsification produces food emulsions with smaller droplet size (Chandrapala, Oliver, Kentish, & Ashokkumar, 2012). In the dairy industry, ultrasound was proved to enhance heat stability of dairy proteins and is used to separate fat from milk (Grieser, 2015). Although most of the reported benefits of using ultrasound in food industry was done in the laboratory, major advances have been made in recent years to utilize ultrasound in commercial processes (Patist & Bates, 2008).

The photo on the right shows a medical technician using an ultrasound machine to diagnose appendicitis to a patient, without the use of x-rays. The ultrasound imaging technique involves using high frequency sound waves and their echoes. The machine transmits high-frequency sound pulses into the patient’s body using a probe. In the image, the technician presses and moves the probe along the patient’s body. This photo was taken in the St. Louis Children’s Hospital.