Ultrasonography

Ultrasound scanners use high frequency sound waves to look at tissues within the body.

A hand-held probe emits a burst of high frequency sound waves (inaudible to the human ear) which are echoed back to the probe. These echoes are then converted into a picture which represents a slice through the tissue being examined. This is displayed on a screen as a ‘real time’ moving image. More complex functions of the ultrasound machine include Doppler and colour flow mapping which are used to look at blood flow through the heart of other organs.

Most people are familiar with the use of ultrasound for monitoring human pregnancies, and we use it to check for pregnancies too. We also use ultrasound for examining other structures inside the abdomen such as the liver, spleen, kidneys, stomach, intestines, lymph nodes, bladder, prostate and blood vessels.

Ultrasound is very useful for examining the heart (echocardiography). Because ultrasound gives a real-time moving image it can show us the structure of a constantly moving organ such as the heart and tells us about its function. We also use ECG and blood pressure monitoring as other useful diagnostic tools.