Sonographic, Imaging Modalities and Their Corresponding Difficulties

1566 Words4 Pages

SONOGRAPHIC IMAGING MODALITIES & THEIR CORRESPONDING DIFFICULTIES According to the CDC, in adults over the age of 20, 69.2% are overweight and 35.9% are overweight (2010). With the average weight of the general adult patient generally increasing, this makes jobs harder for many in the healthcare field, especially sonographers. Abdominal imaging is generally deep imaging with a great deal of force required to push down into the tissue in order to create diagnostic image. Oftentimes, these are long exams with multiple organs and/or vessels to examine. Combine the multiple layers of adipose tissue, overlying bowel gas, and possible skin folds to work around will only increase the exam time putting further strain put on the scanning arm. Considering all of these factors, more and more often sonographers must resort to putting “limited exam due to patient body habitus” because the exam did not yield diagnostic quality images. Considering most of the profession works in hospitals, there are also impatient exams to consider. Patients are brought down in a bed or a wheelchair and commonly have limited mobility, if they are able to move at all. Transport will drop the patient off and the sonographer is left to assist the patient out of the wheelchair or on to the bed alone. The weight of a patient combined with a scenario in which the sonographer is having to lift said patient by him or herself puts great strain on the arms and back. If the patient is already in a bed, the sonographer must work around the large, bulky, sometimes non-adjustable bed in order to access the area they need to get to. Contorting the body and twisting the spine into awkward positions further increases the chance of injury Vascular imaging, the counterpart of ab... ... middle of paper ... ...s, Volume 2, Issue 9. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from: https://www.sdms.org/lists/soundnewsvol2iss9.asp Brown, G. & Baker, J. (2004) Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in sonographers. Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 20(2), 85-93. Christenssen, W. (2001). Stretch exercises: reducing the musculoskeletal pain and discomfort in the arms and upper body of echocardiographers. Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 17(123), 140. Muir, M., Hrynkow, P., Chase, R., Boyce, D., McLean, D. (2004). The nature, cause, and extent of occupational musculoskeletal injuries among sonographers. Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 20(1) 217-325. Selected health conditions and risk factors: United States, selected years 1988–1994 through. (2010, January 12). Center for disease control . Retrieved February 19, 2014, from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus12.pdf#

More about Sonographic, Imaging Modalities and Their Corresponding Difficulties

Open Document