Ultrasounds play a massive role in the medical field, with applications ranging from determining the gender of a child to looking for heart problems. Finding babies in the womb is called fetal imaging, while heart conditions are analyzed using cardiac sonography. These two ultrasound types play a considerable part in providing well-rounded medical care. Here are some more different applications of an ultrasound.
Echocardiography
An electrocardiography specialist will use an ultrasound machine to look at the heart and diagnose cardiac problems. The waves help create the image of the human heart by using technology to reflect detected waves made in various areas of the heart.
Lithotripsy
If you’ve had a kidney stone, you more than likely went through a process called lithotripsy, which breaks down stones in the kidney. Without causing injury, the kidney stones break down into small fragments and flow through the urinary tract for easier removal of the kidney stone.
Musculoskeletal
Ultrasound waves create images of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and nerves throughout the body. The musculoskeletal ultrasound helps determine sprained bones and torn nerves and helps determine if a patient has any medical conditions such as scoliosis or arthritis.
Mammography
A mammogram is a screening tool done on the chest of the body; this type of ultrasound detects abnormalities in the body and determines whether an abnormality is related to breast cancer or something else. Although not every mammogram will detect every form of breast cancer, they can help search underneath deeper tissue to determine any health problems a patient might have. A doctor may recommend a mammogram if they find that you’re at an increased risk for breast cancer, if they can’t conduct an MRI done, if you’re pregnant, or if you have glandular tissue.
Doppler
The Doppler ultrasound is noninvasive and helps estimate the blood flow of arteries and blood vessels. The test uses high-frequency waves to bounce off red blood cells to show the estimates of your blood count. A Doppler ultrasound can diagnose problems such as blood clots, poor blood flow in areas like the legs and the arms, and carotid artery stenosis in the neck region.
Chest
A chest ultrasound helps find issues in the lungs and other areas of the chest. This type of ultrasound has helped detect COVID-19 by using waves to create an image of the lungs and detecting damage caused by the disease. The chest ultrasound can also help discover other medical problems, such as pneumonia.
Ultrasounds play a fascinating and helpful role in the medical field. Through the different applications of an ultrasound, we learn more about how our body parts appear on screens, how quickly doctors can determine a medical diagnosis, and what future steps they’ll need to take to move forward with their patients.
