Ultrasound

At times, diligent engineers look out for ideas from the nature to devise medical imaging techniques. A perfect example of the same is medical ultrasonography. In our primary classes, we have learnt how a bat is able to avoid obstacles, even if it is born blind. Imagine utilizing the same phenomenon to study the internal organs in the body, and we have medical ultrasonography!

One of the best applications of ultrasound medical imaging technique is to study a developing fetus and other complications that arise during pregnancies. The technique is no superior to the other forms of medical imaging techniques such as MRI and CT scans. However, it comes with its own share of vantages, which I will be explaining in the following sections!

While most of the medical imaging techniques will allow the radiologist or a medical practitioner to learn in depth about the ailments, ultrasonography would enable the same to perform remedial or therapeutic procedures. Dentists across the country (and probably the globe) use it to cleanse the teeth.

The latest research conducted with ultrasonography points to the fact that we can even destroy cancerous cells. It is very difficult to obtain real-time moving images of internal organs and soft tissues using the other forms of imaging. However, with an ambient use of the procedure, one will be able to obtain feasible impressions of the underlying biological tissues.

There are four distinct aspects to medical ultrasonography. They are:

• (a) Generating the sound waves and propagating it to the part (of the body) in question.
• (b) Apprehending the resultant echoes.
• (c) Shaping or fashioning the three-dimensional image of the affected part.
• (d) Exhibiting or displaying the formed image in a suitable manner. This would enable the further analysis and examination by the expert medical practitioners.

While considering medical ultrasonography, you will have to acknowledge the presence of various kinds of "modes". Primarily, there are four modes. According to the situation at hand, the radiologist will opt one among these. For instance, if an expectant mother wish to see the fetus, the radiologist would scan her stomach in M mode (the M denotes motion). Ultrasounds and Doppler effects go hand-in-hand and hence, there exists four distinct types of modes (other than the earlier mentioned ones). Doctors use these modes to study the pattern of blood flow within the body.

Despite various advancements and fine-tuning of the original underlying medical ultrasonography principles, the manufacturers are still having a tough time trying to figure out the correct representation of bones and other hardened structures within the body while using this technique. Although the sound waves can penetrate into the soft tissues (withouth risking the maternal health), they cannot be used to diagnose the ailments occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. The presence of trace amounts of gaseous matter in the tract (which is highly unavoidable) will affect the resultant image. Increased deposition of fat would attenuate the passage of the sound waves greatly and hence, patients who are obese will not benefit much when using this medical imaging technique.