Throughout time, the modern-day medical applications have undergone many accomplishments. Nowadays there are many opportunities to receive information about human bodies, with that being said, medical imaging has created a more efficient practice. Over time, a variety of different medical imaging have been developed, however each have their own disadvantages and advantages. The ultrasound is a medical imaging application. Ultrasounds use high-frequency sound waves. From there, the ultrasound machine creates images from the sound waves. The sound waves allow people to view the structure and organs located in the body (Ultrasound: Medline). Many professionals use the ultrasounds to view many parts of the body, such as the heart, blood …show more content…
However majority of the time, ultrasounds are used during pregnancy. Doctors use ultrasounds to view the progress and health of the fetus. The return time of the waves allow people to understand and acknowledge the depth of the reflecting surface. Throughout the mid-century, the ultrasound was used for non-destructive testing of materials. Also, the ultrasound was used as diagnostic tools in 1942, it was used to locate brain tumors (Lecture). In 1950, the ultrasound was used for presenting 2D gray-scale images and in 1965, the ultrasound was used for real-time imaging (Lecture). A professional, technician/doctor moves a device, known as a transducer over a certain part of the patient’s body. The transducer then sends out sound waves, which eventually bounce off the tissues inside the body (Ultrasound: Medline). The transducer captures the waves …show more content…
Molecular imaging is a specific type of medical imaging which allows people to view detailed images of the activities occurring throughout the body at the molecular and cellular level (About Nuclear). This application enables physicians to view how the body is functioning and to measure the chemical and biological processes. Molecular imaging techniques use multiple types of light microscopes and a variety of “optical probes,” which are molecules that have been specifically labeled to emit light of various different wavelengths, that “contrast” the target cells of interest from other cells (Publications). This specific application is very easy to use. Molecular imaging is great for external areas of the body, however not for internal areas. Molecular imaging was made possible by the advances in molecular and cell biology techniques. Also, molecular imaging was first presented in the early 70’s, in nuclear medicine. However it was not until the mid 90’s that efforts were made to advance the technologies and to broaden the biological and molecular field (Publications). Overall, molecular imaging procedures are safe and painless! Molecular imaging is used to manage and diagnose the proper treatment for cancer, heart disease, brain disorders (such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease), gastrointestinal disorders, lung disorders, bone disorders, kidney and thyroid disorders and much more (About
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.
Stethoscope functionality generally has not changed over the past few decades evolving from the monaural hollowed out wooden tube first invented in the early 1800’s by Rene Laennec to the more familiar long multi tubular version, improved upon by George Cammann 50 years later, we so typically see today. The core components of a modern stethoscope are comprised of ear tips, binaural piece, tubing and a diaphragm with a bell on the back. The bell transmits low frequency waves all the way up to the ear pieces, while the diaphragm is designed to carry the higher frequency sound. The two fathers of the stethoscope left little room for improvement on the near perfect design for just over a century until a Harvard Medical School professor by the name of David Littmann turned the simple listening device into the versatile diagnostic tool resting around almost every health care professional’s neck today.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been around since the 1930s. An MRI machine has a great purpose in the medical field. It is a radiology technique that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images of body structures, such as a patient’s head, chest, blood vessels, bones and joints, and much more. MRI machines help doctors figure out what is wrong with their patient's bodies. It allows doctors to take a closer look at a certain location and see things that other machines cannot see. By using this machine, it helps doctors figure out the problem faster and allows them to try and find a treatment or a cure.
Recently, new advances have been made in PET technology. A pair of American scientists working in Switzerland came up with a combination PET/CT scanner, which effectively pairs the two techniques. This new combination will be very useful in cancer diagnosis. With the PET/CT, both anatomical and functional imaging can be done and reproduced on the same image. This will be helpful in pinpointing the location of tumors, and also for the early identification of tumors too small to be of concern in CT scanning.
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.
Being able to identify lumps, swelling, tissue damage, cysts, and the overwhelming news of the sex of a baby all have something in common, an ultrasound. Swelling of the spleen, kidney stones, blood clots, aneurysms, cancer and so much more can be identified through the works of an ultrasound’s imaging technique. Ultrasound involves many concepts, procedures, and careers. The amount of medical possibilities involved with ultrasounds is useful in major medical diagnostics. The field of ultrasounds and career opportunities are widely growing. As medical careers flourish, needs for technicians in many fields of medicine are increasing. Instead of a doctor choosing complex and risky surgery to find out problems within the body, they can now choose a safer path; the ultrasound path. Patient’s history and physical evaluation are building blocks to diagnostics but ultrasounds are much greater. They are powerful tools used to see beyond the skin into the depths of a person’s body. What ultrasounds are, what types there are, and what they are used for, and the education and careers available are the major themes found in research on the subject. Knowledge of ultrasound and its background may help one decide what career is best for them. Understanding the wide array of diagnostic tests and their uses are essential to figuring out what a career as a sonographer entails and the type of education that is needed. Because there are plenty of possibilities for specializing with different technologies, there is a wide variety of job opportunities in the medical imaging career. The call for ultrasound’s assistance opens new paths in future high-quality careers.
Bontrager, K.L. (2005). Textbook of Radiographic Technique and Related Anatomy. St Loius, Missouri: Elsevier Mosby Publishing.
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.
He was the first to use a magnetic field gradient to vary the resonant frequencies of spinning atoms. Although his images were very difficult to produce, he had a variety - glass tubes, mouse thoracic cavity, and the first human body part - a finger!!
Radiation has been successfully applied to addressing a great variety of global issues; arguably most importantly that of medicine. Medical uses of radiation commonly include modern diagnostic and treatment techniques such as X-rays, radionuclides and radiotherapy (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2004). In the context of X-rays, the use of radiation is most recognised in four individually focused treatments, the first of these being the Chest X-ray. This particular diagnostic examination is used to confirm patients as fit for surgery or else distinguish diseases of the lung such as emphysema, pneumonia and lung cancer (The American Association of Physics Teachers, 2007). The X-ray picture is able to be printed though the use of specialized X-ray machines. These machines work similarly to everyday cameras however, instead of using light with frequencies within the visible spectrum, the machines use electromagnetic waves with much higher frequencies which are consequently able to penetrate through thicker mediums. (howstuffworks, 2013)‘Barium Enema’ is an examination of the intestines in which a small amount of radioactive material (Barium) is inserted into the body; showing doctors even the smallest of blockages through the use of a screen. Cardiologists also use a form of X-ray (an angiogram) in order to detect blockages. This works in a very similar manner to that of the Barium Enema. Mammograms are used to diagnose abnormalities such as breast cancer and use X-ray imaging to do so. They are very useful to doctors and patients alike as they can detect the abnormalities sometimes almost two years before a given patient may notice any changes to their body.
“Sound or acoustic energy involves the actual vibration of the actual material through which it passes and thus, in general, propagates best through solids and liquids, less well in gasses and not at all in a vacuum” (Wright et al., 1995, p. 70)
When you take ultrasound waves and apply them to your patient’s skin, the sound waves that are transmitted from your transducer and into your patient’s tissue go through a series of changes. The sound waves can be reflected, refracted, scattered about and also attenuated.
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.
Frequencies associated with relaxation phenomena fall within the range of ultrasonic therefore can be easily focused.