A very important reason for the New Zealand Medical Journal to consider nominating Ultrasound as the most important piece of medical equipment used today is because of its medical use in Fetal Echocardiography.
When 3D ultrasound is used there are 3 steps that should be considered separately; volume acquisition, Glass-body with colour Doppler and Rendering.
Firstly, 3D volume acquisition is a key technique that uses ultrasound when examining the fetal heart. This technique contains digital information of the cardiac structures and their spatial arrangement; therefore cross-sectional views can be obtained at any desired orientation, direction and depth. An example of this is the reconstructed cardiac volume displayed as a single hypothetical real-time cardiac cycle played in a cine loop, which can be played in slow motion or stopped at any time for a detailed analysis of specific parts of the heart, this is shown below in figure 1. According to Springer written in Echocardiographic Anatomy in the Foetus (2008)
Studies on multiplanar analysis from a cardiac cycle at a remote station using STIC (slow acquisition of image slices) which takes an average of 7.5s-15s volume acquisition were shown to be reliable in assessing the different cardiac planes, in screening studies and in evaluating fetal cardiac anomalies, using a volume for an internet link evaluation are emphasized as well, allowing potential for a second opinion in the future, this technique using ultrasound allows doctors and surgeons the ability to see into the foetuses heart and allow them to have detailed image of the heart and see if there are any problems and if so allow them to operate precisely and efficiently. 3D volume acquisition allows for safer and more deta...
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...ar septal defect, also this has helped demonstrate the calibre and relative position of the great arteries and other congenital heart diseases, these examples allow doctors and surgeons to prove weather or not the foetuses has any defects inside the heart or any abnormal growths, allowing the foetuses to be operated on earlier rather than later when the heart may not be inoperable. These are other key facts that make ultrasound a great nomination for the New Zealand Medical Journal to be the most important piece medical equipment in use today.
In conclusion, volume acquisition, Glass-body with colour Doppler and Rendering are key techniques used in echocardiography through the use of ultrasound. The finale point is perhaps the most important as rendering proves if foetuses have defects within the heart and this allows doctors and surgeons to operate and save lives.
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.
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.
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
Ultrasounds use the same concepts that allow sonar on boats to see the bottom of the o...
Diagnostic imaging is commonly used for ultrasounds for finding out the sex of the baby during pregnancies. Sonography can additionally be used to identify such things as coronary illness, heart attacks, and vascular ailment that can possibly prompt stroke. Which then, brings into the other fields of sonography such as the following: abdominal sonography, musculoskeletal sonography, neuro-sonography, and cardiovascular sonography.
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.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of inside the body. The sonographer uses an instrument called an ultrasound transducer on the parts of the patient’s body that are being examined. Of course, as with any profession, there are educational requirements needed to be a sonographer.
In 3D ultrasounds, the computer takes multiple two-dimensional images at various angles and arranges them to form a three-dimensional
Assessment of the left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction; three-dimensional echocardiography has been clearly demonstrated to yield more accurate and reproducible measurements.
Ultrasound or ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves. It is a high pitch frequency that cannot be heard by the human ear. In ultra sound the following happens: High frequency sound pulses (1-5megahertz) are transmitted from the ultrasound machine into your body using a probe. The sound wave will travel into your body until it hits an object such as soft tissue and bone. When the sound wave hits these objects some of the wave will be reflected back to the probe. While some waves may carry on further till they hit another object and then reflected back. The probe picks up these reflected sound waves and relays them to the machine. The distance and time from the probe, to where the sound wave was reflected, to when the echo is received back is calculated by the machine. A two dimensional image like below is produced displaying the distances on the screen.
Echocardiography, or “echo”, is a painless ultrasound of the heart to create dynamic pictures of your heart to show the shape and size of your heart as well as how well your heart's chambers and valves are working.
Echocardiogram - a soundwave picture to look at the structure and function of the heart.
Technology has come a long ways in fetal cardiac surgery. Surgeons and physicians have been working side by side with engineers to make great strides in detecting cardiac abnormalities, performing in-utero surgery, and surgery after birth. It has given babies a fighting chance at living a normal life. Advancing technology has made it easier to identify abnormalities early on while the heart is still in the process of developing. This now gives the surgeons the option to put new instruments, such as a catheter, at work in making minor adjustments. Yet, in-utero fetal cardio surgery is still not completely dependable because it is a complicated process that is still relatively new to health care.
Genetic ultrasound– is performed between 18 – 20 weeks and is a detailed ultrasound combined with blood test results
CElias uses both black and white media as well as color in the digital imaging in his practice. Elias has been recommended for numerous awards including “School of Medicine Excellence in Clinical Medicine “in 2002. Not to mention, Elias received an award from “Focused Ultrasound Foundation” for his clinical studies on patients that suffer from Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorder.