What is Ultrasound? It reflects Sound, which is the basis of life and even has healing powers. Not convinced? Then think of those times when you have lost yourself completely listening to good music or perhaps mesmerized by the sound created by sea waves bashing against the shore? Now may be you agree with the remarkable power of sound to provide comfort. Sound is nothing but a form of vibration, known to evoke myriad emotions. For many of us, certain sounds bring back fond memories that could send us into raptures. For some others, it could mean a recollection of sad events that have happened in their lives.
All in all, sound provides a powerful emotional trigger eliciting varied responses from all those within earshot. The simplest definition of sound – is ‘a wave with a string of compressions in the air’. When we talk, our vocal chords vibrate back and forth.
This vibration disturbs the air molecules nearby. When this disturbance hits the eardrum, the vibration is picked up by the nerves to the brain, which perceives the sound. However, human beings cannot hear all forms of sound. The human ear recognizes sounds if the vibrations per second, called as frequency, falls between 20 and 20,000 vibrations per second. This measure could vary between persons. Subsonic waves portray frequencies below audible waves. Those waves with frequencies higher than the audible range are called as ultrasonic waves. If speech is Silver, Silence is Golden. The above quote holds good especially in the case of ultrasound waves, which is being used for obtaining information about the structure and function of the human body. Ultrasound waves for imaging are generated by transducers, which convert electrical energy into sound energy. These waves are transmitted through the human body by placing the transducer over the surface of the skin.
When these sound waves travel through the human body, it is reflected back by the organs present inside, just like how a ball bounces back after hitting a wall. The sound waves, which are thus reflected, are again picked up by the same transducer. This is then transformed into visual images that provide a real time imaging of the organ being studied. The information that is obtained can then be permanently recorded on hard copy, film, videotape or both. Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or sonography, is a method of obtaining images from inside the human body through the use of high-frequency sound waves. The reflected sound wave echoes are recorded and displayed as a real-time visual image.
No radiation (x-ray) is involved in ultrasound imaging. Ultrasound is a useful way of examining many of the body’s internal organs, including but not limited to the carotid, thyroid, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen, bladder, prostate, uterus and ovaries, veins and arteries. Obstetric ultrasound refers to the specialized use of sound waves to visualize and thus determine the condition of a pregnant woman and her embryo or fetus. Because ultrasound images are captured in real time, they can show movement of internal tissues and organs and enable physicians to see blood flow and heart valve functions.
This can help to diagnose a variety of heart conditions and to assess damage after a heart attack or other illness. Someone you know has undergone an ultrasound exam. Whether it’s to get a first glimpse of a developing baby in the womb or to determine the risk of heart attack, doctors use ultrasound widely in women and men, children and seniors to gain advanced insights into the inner workings of the body. In fact, ultrasound is the most utilized form of diagnostic imaging available today. Despite today’s sophisticated, high-tech systems, ultrasound remains a science built upon the simple sound wave. By beaming high-frequency sound waves into the body, physicians can translate the “echoes” that bounce off body tissues and organs into “sound you can see,” colorful, visual images that provide valuable medical information. Heart disease, stroke, abnormalities in the abdomen or reproductive system, and more – all exhibit telltale signs that ultrasound can help to detect.
Safe, affordable and non-invasive, ultrasound is also portable. Very sick or fragile patients, for example, who might not be able to travel to a radiology lab without risking further injury, can essentially have the lab wheeled to them. That’s an important advantage when you need to conduct an exam on a grandmother who is bedridden or an incubator-bound premature baby.
For half a century now, ultrasound has been there to help families and their doctors determine what’s wrong-or not-with the body and determine the best, most effective means possible to get and stay. Clinicians have often referred to ultrasound technology as the “stethoscope of the future,” predicting that as the equipment shrinks in size, it will one day be as common at the bedside as that trusty tool around every physician’s neck.
Universal Medical Imaging Group and PH Miracle provide anyone with the opportunity to learn more about their health and offers a Full Body Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound Scan which can be combine with Full Body Thermography and 3D Bio-Electro Scan. —- http://www.phoreveryoung.com/store.html#!/Full-Body-Medical-Diagnostic-Imaging/p/44025225/category=11390124 http://universalmedicalimaging.com/ultrasound.html http://www.phmiracleliving.com/t-MedicalImaging.aspx#ultrasound
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