What is the difference between a black and white ultrasound and a colour ultrasound?
As we all know, ultrasound is an essential part of a medical check-up and can visually and clearly detect a variety of pathologies in various organs of the body such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, thyroid, breast, bladder, etc. There are also black and white ultrasounds and colour ultrasounds, sometimes we do black and white ultrasounds and sometimes colour ultrasounds. In fact, the difference between the two is not very clear to the patient, except for the price. Is the more expensive the better, or does colour ultrasound give a clearer picture than black and white? Is colour ultrasound always better than black and white ultrasound?
Black and white ultrasound is a sonogram and colour ultrasound is a two-dimensional image
Many people think that the difference between colour and black and white ultrasound is the difference between a colour television and a black and white television.
The difference between them is that black and white ultrasound uses grey-scale modulation to display the sonogram of the sound beam scanning the cut surface of the body; colour ultrasound, on the other hand, is based on black and white ultrasound with the addition of blood flow signal processing, generally using the three basic colours of red, blue and green to present the distribution of blood vessels, the direction of blood flow and the speed of blood flow in the examination area.
Black and white ultrasound is used for general examination, colour ultrasound is used for precise diagnosis
Black and white ultrasound is often used for general examinations, such as the presence of pleural fluid, ascites, gallstones, bladder stones, kidney stones, prostatitis, liver cysts, uterine fibroids, etc. Early pregnancies and abortions can be satisfied with black and white ultrasound.
Colour ultrasound, on the other hand, is mostly used for accurate diagnosis. In general, for cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy and thrombosis, colour ultrasound can show abnormal blood flow signals. For superficial tissues and organs such as the thyroid, breast, parotid and testicles, colour ultrasound can show abnormalities of hyper- or hypothyroidism.
In addition, colour ultrasound is recommended for clinical scenarios that require higher accuracy, such as obstructive jaundice, cirrhosis, ectopic pregnancy and vascular lesions, to facilitate more accurate diagnosis of disease and reduce misdiagnosis.
Black and white ultrasound has lower radiation than colour ultrasound
For women in the early stages of pregnancy, doctors generally do not allow colour ultrasound to be done in the early stages of the examination. In the early stages, black and white ultrasound will be done to determine the conception of the foetus.
In foreign countries, the sales of colour ultrasound and black and white ultrasound are basically 1:1, and doctors give priority to using black and white ultrasound for items that can be examined with black and white ultrasound. In fact, the most important consideration for hospitals when choosing between black and white and colour ultrasound is the price factor. In terms of image quality, colour ultrasound is indeed clearer and more delicate than black and white ultrasound; however, in terms of cost, colour ultrasound can easily cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, and some medical institutions will consider black and white ultrasound due to limited budget. On the one hand, black and white ultrasound can meet the basic needs of daily medical check-ups, and on the other hand, it is much cheaper and more cost-effective.
