Ultrasound-Current Status

Everyone has probably seen the standard prenatal ultrasound, as shown at right. These images can be difficult to analyze at best. Ultrasound is used intraoperatively as well. One application is for tumor or lesion identification as well as checking for bleeding. Usually, small probe, as shown below is used to get close-up images of a lesion, as shown below right. What is that image? I have no idea. This illustrates the low quality of current ultrasound imaging techniques.

Typically, during surgery a large, bulky console is wheeled into the room and a small, handheld probe like the one shown below is used to probe a tumor. The resulting images can be displayed on the console or on another room in the operating room.

   

Sources:

facstaff.bloomu.edu

http://www.hitachi-medical-systems.de/m/images/Picture/8/8903.jpg

   
   
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Website created by: David Thayer, last edited: May 29, 2006