What is ultrasound?
Ultrasound for diagnoses is the use of high frequency sonorous waves to visualize structures inside the body. A little device called transducer is used to send sonorous waves to inside of the body, which are reflected by internal structures. The feedback sonorous waves (resound or echo) are thus sent back to the same transducer and the equipment attached transforms in an electronic way the echoes in a frame (image) of your internal structures. If the blood flow will be being studied, it can produce audible sonorous and one image.
Is the ultrasound safe?
The ultrasound for diagnoses is used by more than 25 years. The American Institute of Ultrasonography in Medicine gave the follow report about clinical safety of Ultrasonography: “There are not informs about any biological effect in patients or equipment operators caused by exposition in characteristics intensities of the current equipments for diagnoses. However, there are a possibility of these biological effects can be identified in the future, the current data indicate that the benefits to the patients through the use with caution of diagnoses with ultrasound are bigger than risks, if there are, that can be present”.
Even following these precautions, the manufacturers are working constantly to find other ways to reduce the exposition to ultrasound without involve the benefit of the diagnosis.
Is the ultrasound used in the pregnancy, is not it?
Besides the pregnancy, the ultrasound is used to capture images from cholecyst, liver, pancreas, uterus, ovaries, prostate, testicles, thyroid and female breasts. The ultrasound, also, can observe and hear the blood flow inside the arteries and veins in the neck, abdomen and legs; even so inside cardiac valves and chambers. Besides that, the ultrasound is acquiring, each time more, importance in surgery, as a visual resource to surgeons. This is one of the diagnosis tools that are more developed, and medics from all world are always finding new applications to ultrasound systems.
Does ultrasound cause pain?
The procedure itself doesn’t cause pain, but to get the better possible image, it can occur some discomfort by pressure or due patient’s position. One gel type substance is applied in the skin for a better contact with transducer; the gel can be cold, but this is not a procedure that causes pain. For some gynecological and obstetrical examinations it can be necessary to introduce the transducer in the vagina, but the most part of the woman think that it is not discomfort. In the case of prostate examination, the transducer is introduced in the rectum, which does not cause more discomfort that the rectum touch examination.
