The Process Essay: Undercover of the Ultrasound Machine
Today’s ultrasound machines operate using the pulse-echo system. In order to produce an accurate representation of the anatomy being surveyed, the machine must determine echo’s strength and location. Ultrasound systems measure the time it takes for echoes to return and relates that to distance traveled to decipher location of reflectors using the range equation. Ultrasound equipment basically consists of four components, a beam former, receiver, processor, and display (Kaur, 2013). Figure 1 shows the pathway of the echo voltages through the ultrasound machine from first spark, through memory and display.
The beam former drives the transducer and processes the returning echoes. The
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The filter, an amplifier with an electronic filter referred to as a bandpass filter, is set to only allow a specific range of frequencies to continue on. The filter uses rejection to block any frequencies that do not fall into this range. This is helpful in reducing a lot of noise and giving a clear signal. Harmonic imaging is where the fundamental frequencies are actually filtered out, allowing the harmonic frequencies to pass through (Kremkau, 2011). Coded excitation helps with harmonics by creating shorter and stronger pulses. Detection, or demodulation, is where the echo voltages, which are received as radio frequencies, are converted into amplitude/video form (Miele, 2006). This happens in two parts, rectification and smoothing. During rectification the pulses are cut into ½ wave sections and refigured making them appear all positive. With smoothing, the humps are smoothed out so the pulse appears in video form. Dynamic range is used to compress the intensity ratio into one that can be displayed (Kremkau, 2011). Figure 2 shows the effect of different dynamic range settings on the same image. There is a large difference between the dynamic range that the human eye is able to detect and that of the reflected signals, and for this reason, compression must be performed (Miele, …show more content…
Functions that can be accomplished during preprocessing include: persistence, which reduces noise and smooths the image by frame averaging; panoramic imaging, where the transducer’s normal field of view is expanded beyond normal limits; and spatial compounding, the averaging of many frames that view the anatomy from different angles. Persistence and spacial compounding help to reduce image noise. “In certain cases… the noise can restrain information which is valuable for the general practitioner” (Sudha, Suresh, Sukanesh, 2009). Figure 3 shows the remarkable improvement to image quality with spacial compounding. The processed scan line signals move on to the scan converter where they are converted into image form. The image plane is divided into pixels representing anatomical locations. In digital memory, the pixels are assigned a number representing a shade of gray that corresponds to the echo strength in that area. When the line data is in the appropriate format, it is available for display, storage, and cineloop review (Miele,
As an ultrasound technician/sonographer I will have the ability to see dangerous defects within the human anatomy and begin a lifelong profession with many benefits. The Ultrasound was first invented in the early 1900’s and was surprisingly not used to produce photos of a fetus. In 1917 Paul Langen a marine life scientist used a form of ultrasound equipment in his attempt to detect submarines. After many failed attempts at using high frequency sound waves Dr. Ian Donald and his team in Glasgow, Scotland invented the first ultrasound machine in 1957. Dr. Donald even tested his machine on patients within a year of completing the invention, by the late 1950’s ultrasounds became routine in Glasgow hospitals.
I have always been fascinated with the medical field ever since I was little, my first choice for electives were always health science and anatomy classes. After my cousin, Deanna, had her first child and receive her first ultrasound, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The ultrasound technician had made her feel so comforted and just made the entire experience enjoyable for everyone; I’m eager to be able to start my life with a job that I know I will love. Anytime that I meet someone who is in the field themselves, I always ask questions and listen to what they do throughout the day to get some real insight on what being a technician really entails.
Diagnostic medical sonography is a profession where sonographers direct high-frequency sound waves into a patient’s body through the use of specific equipment to diagnose or monitor a patient’s medical condition. As described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this examination is referred to as an ultrasound, sonogram, or echocardiogram. The high-frequency sound waves emitted from the handheld device, called a transducer, bounce back creating an echo and therefore produce an image that can be viewed on the sonographers computer screen. This image provides the sonographer and physician with an internal image of the patient’s body that will be used in the diagnosis. The most familiar use of ultrasound is used in monitoring pregnancies and is provided by obstetric and gynecologic sonographers, who also provide imaging of the female reproductive system. Other types of sonography include; abdominal sonography, breast sonography, musculoskeletal sonography, neurosonography and cardiovascular sonography. Due to the vast nature of uses in sonography, most professionals study one field that they choose to specialize in. Diagnostic medical sonography is a rapidly growing field because of the increase in medical advances. The area of Cleveland, Ohio has continued to rise in the medical field with great strides, providing better career prospects with the availability of numerous employment positions.
I haven’t always wanted to be a cardiac sonographer. The desire to be in this career just started to spark an interest in me a couple years back. You see, since I was a little girl I had always dreamt of becoming an architect or an interior designer. At first, the design aspect of that occupation interested me greatly. My dream started to fall short when I realized that a job like this would require me to make a move to a bigger city and that is something that I do not wish to pursue. This meant it was time to find another path to go down and reconfigure my future.
Many wonder how do ultrasounds truly work. Ultrasounds are actually more complex than what they seem to be. First, the ultrasound machine transmits high-frequency sound pulses into your body using a probe, and then sound waves travel into your body and hit a boundary between tissues (Freudenrich, 2011). An example of this would be between fluid and soft tissue and soft tissue and bone. After that, some of the sound waves get reflected back to the probe, while some travel on further until they reach another boundary and get reflected, the reflected waves are then picked up by the probe and relayed to the machine. The machine calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or organ using the speed of sound in tissue and the time of the each echo's return. Finally, the machine displays the distances and intensities of the echoes on the screen, forming a two dimensional image like the one shown below (Freudenrich, 2011).
Introduction This study correlated the eFAST findings performed in-flight by the flight crew with the findings obtained by the trauma team upon initial evaluation at a level 1 trauma center and with the subsequent CT scans that were performed or the surgeon's operative note. We hypothesize that aeromedical eFAST examinations are highly correlated with the trauma teams findings. Methods This prospective, observational study evaluated 190 traumatically injured patients from June 2014 to December 2015 in Southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina. Results For 190 trauma patients the Flight Crew POCUS examinations obtained a Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of 100% and a Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 98.3% for the identification of pneumothorax,
The dream that I most desire in life is to become a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer. I’ve always had an interest in the inner workings of the human body, but I also value life, and care for others, and my happiness is the happiness of others. Although this career has its bumps on the road just to see mothers face light up when they see the image of their unborn baby is such a breath taking experience. This all originated from going to one of my sisters’ ultrasound appointment that I ended up going to all my sisters’ ultrasound appointments. I believe becoming a diagnostic medical sonographer is something I can do because I have what it takes. Diagnostic medical sonographer is imaging modality that can work in conjunction with other imaging modalities
...s in one direction to acquire a single image slice. For another slice to be imaged the x-ray tube would again rotate another 360 degrees but on opposite direction. However this has been changed over the years and has been implemented a Slip-Ring technology which replaced the old high tension cables. In this way the new CT scanner x-ray tube had the ability to rotate continuously around the patient and in the same time the table was moving through the gantry to acquire data in a form of a Spiral or Helical. Therefore the new generation of CT scanners is called Spiral or Helical CT. The advantages of the new scanners are that the volume data can be reconstructed in any other planes (sagittal, coronal and three dimensional images), also there is a short time scan therefore radiation to the patient is minimized and also the artefact caused by patient motion is reduced.
Dubey, R.B., et al. “The Current CAD and PACS Technologies in Medical Imaging.” International Journal of Applied Engineering Research 4.8 (2009): 1439-1456. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
In general, ultrasound waves produced by an instrument called transducer are sent into a patient. Some of the waves are absorbed, but the other portion of these waves are reflected when tissue and organ boundaries are encountered. The echoes produced by the reflected waves are then picked up by the transducer and translated in a visible picture often referred to as ultrasound. In the paragraphs that follow, the physics of how the transducer functions, what the ultrasound waves do, and how the image is formed will be explained.
Choosing this field is something that has a profound connection with my personal life. Becoming a Diagnostic Medical sonographer would mean that I have accomplished life long dream. Ever since I was a little, I always wanted to be in the medical field. I have always had a big heart and wanted to help people so when I saw the important role that sonographers play in the medical field, it became clear to me that being a sonographer was exactly what I want to do with my life. In 2007 someone who was very important to me passed away due to gastric cancer. When my grandmother, who was a mother, father, and a friend to me, was diagnosed with gastric cancer my world collapsed. It was devastating news, not only for me but also for the whole family.
Ultrasounds use the same concepts that allow sonar on boats to see the bottom of the o...
Ultrasound Technicians are very valuable in the world of health care. Also known as Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, an Ultrasound Technician uses special machines and equipment that operates on sound waves to determine or diagnose medical problems for patients. There are specializations within this field in which some individuals explore. For instance, areas of specialization includes but not limited to; pregnancy, heart health, gynecology, and abdominal sonography. Although each specializing branch has its own distinctive function, they all involve probing the body to facilitate doctors with diagnoses.
CTscans stands for “Computed Tomography”. It is a way of looking inside your body using a special camera. It is an advanced scanning x-ray and computer system that makes detailed pictures of horizontal cross-sections of the body, or the part of the body that is x-rayed. A CT scan is a diagnostic test that combines the use of x-ray with computer technology. A series of x-beams from many different angles are used to get these cross-sectional images of the patient’s body. In a computer, these pictures are assembled into a 3-dimentianal picture that can display organs, tissues, bones, and any such thing. It can even show ducts, blood vessels and tumors. One of the advantages of CT is that it clearly shows soft tissue structures (such as brain), as well as dense tissue structure (such as bone). The pictures of a Ctscanner are a lot more detailed than the pictures of a regular X-ray machine. It can make pictures of areas protected or surrounded by bones, which a regular X-ray machine can not. Because of this, a CT scanner is said to be 100 times as affective and clever as an ordinary X-ray, and can therefore diagnose some diseases a lot earlier and quicker. It is recent technology that has made it possible to accurately scan objects into a computer in three dimensions, even though the machines and ideas were developed in the 1970s. In the 70s doctors started to use this new type of machine that could give detailed pictures of organs that the older type of x-ray, machine could not give.
Images of human anatomy have been around for more than 500 years now. From the sketches created by Leonardo da Vinci, to the modern day Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, images have played a great role in medicine. Evolution in medical imaging brought together people from various disciplines such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, a collaboration which has further contributed to healthcare as a whole. Modern day imaging improves medical workflows by facilitating a non-invasive insight into human body, accurate and timely diagnostics, and persistence of an analysis.