Ultrasound
Ultrasound is one of the most widely used medical imaging techniques. The main reason for this is that the required equipment is much cheaper and more portable than other imaging equipment. Ultrasound also offers the significant bonus of having no health risks associated with it. Again not something you can say about other techniques.
Ultrasound is a medical imaging technique that uses sound waves to see inside the body. It is particularly useful for seeing the internal organs. One of the great benefits of ultrasound is that it shows a real time picture which means doctors can see movement. This means that they can see that the organs are actually functioning properly. Traditionally ultrasound has produced a flat image on a screen but in recent years improvements in the technology have meant that three dimensional pictures can be seen. If doctors want to see your blood flowing they will use a special kind of ultrasound called a Doppler ultrasound that allows them to measure the speed of the blood flow.
Ultrasound is widely used when doctors want to examine your internal organs. This is because it allows them to not only see the structure of the organs but the function as well. Of course the use that most people are familiar with is to check on a fetus in the womb. It is also commonly used anytime that a patient complains of pain, swelling or infection. In addition ultrasound is commonly used during biopsies so that the doctors can see where they need to put the needle to extract the tissue that needs to be examined.
Ultrasound works exactly the same way as the sonar on a ship does. Sound waves are sent out and when they hit your body's internal organs they bounce back to the detector. By looking at how long it took the waves to return the computer can determine how far away an object is. This allows the computer to draw a picture of your internal organs. The technology is now good enough that a very accurate and clear picture can be drawn from the sound waves that are bouncing back to the receiver.
One of the great things about ultrasound is that unlike most other imaging techniques it doesn't use any radiation. In fact as far as we know there are no harmful effects of ultrasound on the human body. That means that there are really no risks. This is why it is commonly used on pregnant women; x-rays would pose a risk to the fetus. This is not an issue with ultrasound. It is also less expensive than most other imaging techniques so not only will all hospitals have access to an ultrasound machine but most doctors will have one in their office. This makes it much easier to get an image as compared to having to get an MRI which could have a long waiting list.