How ultrasound works and how it improves the future

Written by Administrator

Thursday, 22 October 2009 09:26

Using ultrasound to throw a glance into the uterus to the growing baby is almost as exciting as the pregnancy itself. you can find out if it's a boy or a girl and also a number of other facts. One can even see if the baby is a thumb-sucker, of quiet or energetic nature. Most importantly, however, an ultrasound examination can assure you that the baby is healthy and growing properly.

In addition to radio and television, which use a range of frequencies audible to us, there are devices that use the frequencies outside our auditory system. These frequencies are called ultrasonic, radar or sonar. Ultrasound, or medical sonography, was developed by a doctor in the 1960s and was inspired by a dental instrument, which uses ultrasound to clean teeth.

Medical Ultrasound works like other ultrasound techniques. It creates a sound wave that bounces off of objects and the reflected sound registered. As a diagnostic tool is ultrasound noninvasively, provides clear results and does not represent a risk to the patient when it is used by a trained physician. The technology is in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging or x-ray equipment to operate fairly easy to use and relatively inexpensive.

The basis for medical ultrasound examinations begins with a study by the Curie brothers on the properties of crystals in the nineteenth century. Their discovery that the compression of certain crystals generate an electric discharge, led to the investigation of sound waves, the sonar in World War II, radar during the Second World War, and dental plaque-enabled Blaster. Ultrasound begins with a piezoelectric transducer, an instrument that different types of quartz or ceramic compressed between metal plates, until it emits high-frequency sound waves. Most medical ultrasound transducers using ceramic, that a wave of frequency 2 to 18 mega hertz. A technician directs the sound with a wand-like device that the transducer emits and receives the echoes when the sound bounces off the internal organs, tissues and bones. A thermal gel on the skin of the patient to prevent false echoes from the skin itself
The type and quality of the sound re-defines the distance from the transducer and its shape and density. The vibration of the transducer plates generates an electric current, which is translated into a digital signal into the scanner. Software then translates the signals into images and data. As the sound waves are emitted from a source, the resulting pictures conical.

Medical ultrasound is mostly associated with the development of the fetus in the womb due to its usability and security. Sonograms can detect congenital physical problems and potential of multiple births and incorrect position of the fetus. Sonograms are often used in gynecological and oncological investigation and can be used in places where visual examinations are problematic.
Modern ultrasound technology has developed applications of Doppler theory, show the movement, speed and sound.

'General Electric' has just developed a portable ultrasound device that is slightly larger than a foldable mobile phone. This sensational device in the near future will greatly improve diagnostic capabilities, as physicians are able to transport it is literally in your pocket. Referrals to specialists should therefore be reduced, since this portable ultrasound machine for doctors will be more accessible. It is hoped that this is the first step in easy to use ultrasound equipment for home use.