Most people are familiar with ultrasound in terms
of examining a fetus inside the body of a pregnant woman. But it is only one of
the many purposes of this imaging test. Ultrasound is also used to detect
tumors in the body, the ones that do not appear on X-rays. It also guides
instruments during a biopsy, wherein a fluid or tissue is removed and examined
under a microscope.
Pregnancy Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a standard part of prenatal care,
providing images of the fetus or embryo’s viability and growth. Prenatal care
includes ultrasound as a standard part of such preventive healthcare. An
ultrasound scan provides images of the fetus or the viability and growth of the
embryo.
In general, healthcare providers use prenatal
ultrasound to monitor the mother and the fetus during pregnancy.
Echocardiogram, a type of ultrasound, can also provide an image of how well
blood flows through the blood vessels and the heart, including imaging heart
structures.
Doctors use prenatal ultrasound to:
Confirm pregnancy
Check the growth and position of the fetus
Determine the amount of amniotic fluid
See the movement and heart rate of the fetus
Estimate how long is the pregnancy and the
gestational age of the fetus
Check for congenital conditions in the brain, heart,
spinal cord, or other parts of the fetus
Find out if the pregnant woman has more than one
fetus
Most doctors recommend you to have an ultrasound
if you reach 20 weeks of pregnancy. This medical test tracks the fetal growth
and development during pregnancy. This ultrasound may also show the gender of
the fetus. The doctor may order additional scans to get answers to any concerns
like the risk of congenital conditions.
Ultrasound Guidance for Various Procedures
Aside from pregnancy, ultrasound is also used to
detect a variety of digestive problems. Sometimes, medical providers use
ultrasound to perform specific procedures. A common use of ultrasound scan is
to control the needle placement to sample tissue or fluid from:
Muscles
Joints
Soft-tissue masses
Transplant organs (kidney, liver, or pancreas)
Cysts or fluid collections
Tendons
Other procedures that may require ultrasound
guidance are:
Nerve blocks
Lesion localization procedures
Confirming the placement of an IUD after
insertion
Embryo transfer for in vitro fertilization
Again, ultrasound technology is quite useful for
accurate diagnosis, since the healthcare provider can assess the affected area
while it is moving as well as monitor the patient as they perform the action
causing symptoms.
While ultrasound images are not as detailed as
those taken from CT or MRI scans, they are good at capturing images of some
soft-tissue diseases that are hard to find with an X-ray without radiation
exposure.
For some ultrasound exams, a transducer is
pressed against the skin to transmit the sound waves to the organs. At times,
the transducer is inserted into a bodily opening to obtain high-quality images.
Moreover, the intensity of an ultrasound echo
depends on the density of the tissue being scanned. For example, when the waves
bounce off a hard tumor, they can produce a pattern of echoes that the computer
shows as a lighter-coloured image.
Your doctor will let you know if you need to do
any preparations for your ultrasound. They may give you instructions when
scheduling your ultrasound.
