Medical Science: Ultrasound Tips
Q: What is ultrasound?
A: Let's first understand what ultrasound is. We usually speak or sing, the sound that can be heard is called sound waves, its frequency is 50 ~ 10000Hz, if the sound waves above 20000Hz exceed the upper limit of human hearing, the human ear is inaudible, this sound wave is called ultrasound, referred to as ultrasound.
The frequency of ultrasound, which is usually used for medical diagnosis, is 1~30MHz, and its clinical application is wide and has become an indispensable diagnostic method in modern clinical medicine. It is the same as ordinary sound. Ultrasound can propagate in a certain direction and can penetrate objects. If it encounters an obstacle, it will produce an echo, and different obstacles will produce different echoes, and people collect and display this echo on the screen through the instrument, which can be used to understand the internal structure of the object.
Q: Is ultrasound safe? Is there any radiation?
A: Many people in life are concerned about the presence of radiation from our ultrasound and its effects on their bodies. In general, the harmful to the human body refers to ionizing radiation, while ultrasound is essentially a high-frequency sound waves, can not produce electromagnetic radiation, so will not cause "radioactive" harm. We in the clinical diagnosis of the ultrasound examination used, the frequency is generally in 1 ~ 30MHz.
The key to the safety of ultrasound for the human body is the dose of ultrasound, which is the product of the intensity of ultrasound and exposure time, the sound waves dense in a fixed place will produce a thermal effect, this thermal effect to a certain extent may have adverse effects on human tissue, but the regular ultrasound equipment for ultrasound output power has strict control, and there are doctors controlling the dose of ultrasound, in such conditions Under such conditions, there is no need to worry at all.
Q: What is the difference between color ultrasound and B-ultrasound?
A: In fact, color ultrasound and B-ultrasound are essentially the same, both of them use relevant technology for signal processing and present the processed signal on the display, which is the black and white image we see.
The difference lies in the fact that color ultrasound has higher resolution than B-ultrasound, and the images displayed are clearer. For example, it is used for vascular examination.
Color ultrasound and B-ultrasound have the same important role in the diagnosis of diseases, and they complement each other and are indispensable.
Q: What is the slimy fluid that is applied during ultrasound?
A: This "thing" is called medical ultrasound coupling agent, coupling agent is a water-soluble polymer gel.
It has two roles, one of which we can probably guess, is to play the role of lubrication. Second, because ultrasound is not conducted in the air, the coupling agent as a medium to transmit ultrasound into the human tissue. When the coupling agent is applied before our examination, it fills the air gap between the ultrasound probe and the human skin, thus allowing better access of ultrasound to the body for later imaging.
Q: Why do I always have to wait so long for an ultrasound exam?
A: Generally speaking, the speed of ultrasound examination is related to the number of examination sites and the complexity of the examination. For some exams, the time will be shorter if there is no abnormality in a single part of the body, while for some exams, the time will be longer if there are more parts and problems, and the final diagnosis may be made after repeated exams and consultations. If you feel that your examination time is shorter, it may just mean that your condition is not serious, so please do not blindly compare the examination time.
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