Facts About Ultrasound and Sonography: Indeed, being an expectant mother for the first time tends to introduce you to new ultrasound terms that you might never encounter regularly. There’s dysgeusia, for example, which refers to the metallic taste you get as one of the early signs of pregnancy. There’s also preeclampsia, a health complication that raises your blood pressure to an alarming level. There’s also sonography, which involves ultrasound waves.
A term you often hear but perhaps have not given much thought to is the ultrasound machine. This machine is not just used for monitoring pregnancy; it is also used to diagnose various conditions, such as gallbladder disease, among other health issues in patients.
The beauty of ultrasound procedures lies in their non-invasive nature. This means that ultrasound can examine the inside of the human body without needing to make any incisions. Furthermore, ultrasound operates using non-ionizing radiation, which is safer than other forms of radiation used in some medical imaging technologies.
There are also different types of ultrasound, each suited for a specific purpose, such as examining the heart, blood vessels, or the developing fetus. These make ultrasound machines an essential tool in modern healthcare.
What, In Fact, Do You Mean By Sonography?
Sonography, which involves ultrasound waves, is used for a variety of medical purposes, such as liver ultrasound. This technique employs sound waves to create images of internal body structures on an examination table. It’s commonly used beyond the human hearing range and can be performed with a hand-held device. Sonography is valuable for examining internal organs, including identifying air pockets or assessing heart function through procedures like a transesophageal echocardiogram, which involves inserting the ultrasound device through a natural opening in the body.
In some cases, sonography is even used to guide procedures like a biopsy, where a small sample of tissue is taken for further ultrasound examinations. This guidance helps ensure accuracy and safety during the procedure. Sonography’s noninvasive nature and versatility make it an invaluable tool in medical diagnostics.
An ultrasound image is commonly referred to as a sonogram. This term specifically describes the detailed picture generated from an ultrasound examination, which uses sound waves to capture live images from inside the body. They are often cherished keepsakes from pregnancy, offering expectant parents a first glimpse of their unborn child. They provide not only emotional value but also critical medical insights, allowing healthcare providers to assess fetal development and maternal health. These images can reveal a wealth of information, comparing favorably with high-definition photographs, by showcasing the intricate details of the baby’s growth and development in the womb.
And, What’s An Ultrasound?
Let me tell you that the word pertains to the three- or four-dimensional image of a baby in a pregnant woman’s belly. It first became publicized during the late 18th century when Tom Brown, an engineer, and Ian Donald, an obstetrician, created this obstetric ultrasound machine. It was not until after World War II, however, that ultrasound became useful in birthing institutions. It has evolved to become a useful tool in providing ultrasound scans and keepsake videos of the unborn baby.
The therapeutic ultrasound machine, on the other hand, is a deep heating machine used in physical therapy to treat joints, ligaments, and muscles of the body. A therapeutic tool that is used for the ultrasound imaging of internal organs is referred to as a diagnostic ultrasound. Another type is the Doppler ultrasound, which uses sound waves to monitor a person’s blood flow via his blood vessels. The blood vessels serve as a mapping guide for the machine to detect. These are machines that utilize ultrasound technology, but they are all medical ultrasound machines that use ultrasound transducers to provide an ultrasound image.
They Are Not The Same
Another thing you should know is that there is a difference between the two. There always seems to be confusion because ultrasound has gained more recognition over time, and people often interchange the two. Despite that, it is nothing but a case of mistaken identity.
Indeed, an ultrasound is a machine widely used in medicine to gather information about a person’s internal parts, including organs like the thyroid or systems like the blood vessels. Its widespread use is due to its ability to diagnose conditions without causing pain or discomfort to the patient.
On the other hand, the latter one is the output, the image you get afterwards, which can visually represent movement, such as the flow of blood through vessels using a spectral Doppler. This ultrasound image is then used by healthcare professionals to identify and diagnose potential health issues.
So, it’s crucial to understand the difference between the two, but you shouldn’t interchange them. The ultrasound is the process and the equipment, while the other one is the resulting image.
Ultrasound Comes With Zero Ultrasound Side Effects
It is also significant to add that it is risk-free to undergo sonography or ultrasound technology. The sonographer only garners the high-frequency sound waves at a non-ionizing range from the ultrasound, the harmless sound waves bounce creating a graphic photo of your bun in the oven through ultrasonic waves. Although the outcome looks like an X-ray image, the ultrasound machine does not emit radiation at all. That is why there’s no need for you to worry about letting the specialist take a picture.
Ultrasound May Lower The Possibility Of Getting An Abortion
What’s also great about getting an ultrasound is that it usually dissuades people from terminating a pregnancy deliberately. The process is not as dramatic as how you have possibly seen it in the movies, but it is just a magical fact.
A feasible reasoning is that the expectant mother may not initially feel an emotional attachment to the unborn child, perhaps because she has not yet had the opportunity to take a glimpse of her offspring. This is where an ultrasound, a tool widely used in prenatal care, comes into play.
Through the ultrasound, doctors can view the baby, the mother’s uterus, and other tissues, including the full bladder. They can also utilize a color ultrasound Doppler to visualize the blood flow, which can be particularly important in identifying potential heart problems in the fetus.
Once the patient, the expectant mother receives the baby image produced by the ultrasound – a change often occurs. Seeing the ultrasound image of her child can spark maternal love and may lead the woman to reconsider, potentially stopping her from pushing through with the abortion. This is why ultrasound and ultrasound results can be vital ultrasound tools in prenatal care.
Ultrasound Is Useful For Various Conditions Other Than Pregnancy
You may want to know that the ultrasound cannot merely show you a picture of the fetus in a mommy’s tummy. Medical professionals such as cardiologists, internists, and vascular medicine specialists may also utilize the machine to get a more in-depth look at a patient’s problematic body parts. Thus, it should not surprise you if a doctor who isn’t an obstetrician asks you to obtain this type of ultrasound imaging.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Last Updated on May 17, 2023 by Bernadine Racoma
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