Kolkata: Ultrasound is an imaging modality that utilizes high-frequency sound waves to provide cross-sectional images of the body.
No medical treatment can or should be considered or given until a proper diagnosis has been established.
For a considerable number of years after Roentgen first described the use of ionizing radiation - at that time called ‘X-rays’ - for diagnostic imaging in 1895, this remained the only method for visualizing the interior of the body.
However, during the second half of the twentieth century new imaging methods, including some based on principles totally different from those of X-rays, were discovered. Ultrasonography was one such method that showed particular potential and greater benefit than X-ray-based imaging.
During the last decade of the twentieth century, use of ultrasonography became increasingly common in medical practice and hospitals around the world, and several scientific publications reported the benefit and even the superiority of ultrasonography over commonly used X-ray techniques, resulting in significant changes in diagnostic imaging procedures.
Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce pictures of the inside of the body. It is used to help diagnose the causes of pain, swelling and infection in the body’s internal organs and to examine a baby in pregnant women and the brain and hips in infants.
It’s also used to help guide biopsies, diagnose heart conditions, and assess damage after a heart attack.
The ultrasound machine has the following components: monitor, keyboard, processor, data storage and probe or transducer. (UNI)