How Ultrasound Works
by Craig C. Freudenrich, Ph.D.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ultrasound.htm
There are many situations in which ultrasound is performed. Perhaps you are pregnant, and your obstetrician wants you to have an ultrasound to check on the developing baby or determine the due date. Maybe you are having problems with blood circulation in a limb or your heart, and your doctor has requested a Doppler ultrasound to look at the blood flow. Ultrasound has been a popular medical imaging technique for many years.
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In this edition of How Stuff Works, we will look at how ultrasound works, what type of ultrasound techniques are available and what each technique can be used for.
What is Ultrasound?
Ultrasound or ultrasonography is a
medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves and their
echoes. The technique is similar to the echolocation used by bats, whales and
dolphins, as well as SONAR used by submarines. In ultrasound,
the following events happen:
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In a typical ultrasound, millions of pulses and echoes are sent and received each second. The probe can be moved along the surface of the body and angled to obtain various views.
The Ultrasound Machine
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A basic ultrasound machine has the following parts:
Transducer Probe
The transducer probe is the main part of the ultrasound
machine. The transducer probe makes the sound waves and receives the echoes. It
is, so to speak, the mouth and ears of the ultrasound machine. The transducer
probe generates and receives sound waves using a principle called the piezoelectric
(pressure electricity) effect, which was discovered by Pierre and Jacques
Curie in 1880. In the probe, there are one or more quartz
crystals called piezoelectric crystals. When an electric current is
applied to these crystals, they change shape rapidly. The rapid shape changes,
or vibrations, of the crystals produce sound waves that travel outward.
Conversely, when sound or pressure waves hit the crystals, they emit electrical
currents. Therefore, the same crystals can be used to send and receive sound
waves. The probe also has a sound absorbing substance to eliminate back
reflections from the probe itself, and an acoustic lens to help focus the
emitted sound waves.
Transducer probes come in many shapes and sizes, as shown in the photo above. The shape of the probe determines its field of view, and the frequency of emitted sound waves determines how deep the sound waves penetrate and the resolution of the image. Transducer probes may contain one or more crystal elements; in multiple-element probes, each crystal has its own circuit. Multiple-element probes have the advantage that the ultrasounc beam can be "steered" by changing the timing in which each element gets pulsed; steering the beam is especially important for cardiac ultrasound (see Basic Principles of Ultrasound for details on transducers). In addition to probes that can be moved across the surface of the body, some probes are designed to be inserted through various openings of the body (vagina, rectum, esophagus) so that they can get closer to the organ being examined (uterus, prostate gland, stomach); getting closer to the organ can allow for more detailed views.
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Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is the brain of the ultrasound machine. The CPU is basically a computer
that contains the microprocessor,
memory,
amplifiers and power supplies for the microprocessor and transducer probe. The
CPU sends electrical currents to the transducer probe to emit sound waves, and
also receives the electrical pulses from the probes that were created from the
returning echoes. The CPU does all of the calculations involved in processing
the data. Once the raw data are processed, the CPU forms the image on the
monitor. The CPU can also store the processed data and/or image on disk.
Transducer Pulse Controls
The transducer pulse controls allow the operator,
called the ultrasonographer, to set and change
the frequency and duration of the ultrasound pulses, as well as the scan mode
of the machine. The commands from the operator are translated into changing
electric currents that are applied to the piezoelectric crystals in the
transducer probe.
Display
The display is a computer
monitor that shows the processed data from the CPU. Displays can be
black-and-white or color, depending upon the model of the ultrasound machine.
Keyboard/Cursor
Ultrasound machines have a keyboard and a
cursor, such as a trackball, built in. These devices allow the operator to add
notes to and take measurements from the data.
Disk Storage
The processed data and/ or images can be stored on disk. The disks can be hard disks, floppy disks, compact discs (CDs) or digital video discs
(DVDs). Typically, a patient's ultrasound scans are stored on a floppy disk and
archived with the patient's medical records.
Printers
Many ultrasound machines have thermal printers that can be used to capture a
hard copy of the image from the display.
Different Types of Ultrasound
The ultrasound that we have described so far presents a two dimensional image,
or "slice," of a three dimensional object (fetus, organ). Two other
types of ultrasound are currently in use, 3D ultrasound imaging and Doppler
ultrasound.
3D Ultrasound Imaging
In the past two years, ultrasound machines capable of three-dimensional imaging
have been developed. In these machines, several two-dimensional images are
acquired by moving the probes across the body surface or rotating inserted
probes. The two-dimensional scans are then combined by specialized computer
software to form 3D images.
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3D imaging allows you to get a better look at the organ being examined and is best used for:
Doppler Ultrasound
Doppler ultrasound is based upon the Doppler Effect.
When the object reflecting the ultrasound waves is moving, it changes the
frequency of the echoes, creating a higher frequency if it is moving toward the
probe and a lower frequency if it is moving away from the probe. How much the
frequency is changed depends upon how fast the object is moving. Doppler
ultrasound measures the change in frequency of the echoes to calculate how fast
an object is moving. Doppler ultrasound has been used mostly to measure the
rate of blood flow
through the heart
and major arteries.
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Major Uses of Ultrasound
Ultrasound has been used in a variety of clinical settings, including
obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection. The main advantage
of ultrasound is that certain structures can be observed without using radiation.
Ultrasound can also be done much faster than X-rays or other radiographic
techniques. Here is a short list of some uses for ultrasound:
In addition to these areas, there is a growing use
for ultrasound as a rapid imaging tool for diagnosis in emergency rooms.
Dangers of Ultrasound
There have been many concerns about the safety of ultrasound. Because
ultrasound is energy, the question becomes "What is this energy doing to
my tissues or my baby?" There have been some reports of low birthweight babies being born to mothers who had frequent
ultrasound examinations during pregnancy. The two major possibilities with
ultrasound are as follows:
However, there have been no
substantiated ill-effects of ultrasound documented in studies in either humans
or animals. This being said, ultrasound should still be used only when
necessary (i.e. better to be cautious).
An Ultrasound Examination
For an ultrasound exam, you go into a room with a technician and the
ultrasound machine. The following happens:
The Future of Ultrasound
As with other computer technology, ultrasound machines will most likely
get faster and have more memory for storing data. Transducer probes may get
smaller, and more insertable probes will be developed
to get better images of internal organs. Most likely, 3D ultrasound will be
more highly developed and become more popular. The entire ultrasound machine
will probably get smaller, perhaps even hand-held for use in the field (e.g.
paramedics, battlefield triage). One exciting new area of research is the
development of ultrasound
imaging combined with heads-up/virtual reality-type displays that will
allow a doctor to "see" inside you as he/she is performing a
minimally invasive or non-invasive procedure such as amniocentesis or biopsy.