What is Ultrasound?

What Are the Uses?

Procedure

Preparation

After the Exam

What is Ultrasound?

Ultrasound involves the use of high-frequency sound waves to create images of organs and systems within the body.

What are the uses?

• To find gallstones
• kidney stones
• liver tumor
• the gender of a fetus (unborn baby)

Procedure

Ultrasound is like ordinary sound except it has a frequency (or pitch) higher than human beings can hear. When sent into the body from a transducer resting on a patient's skin, the sound is reflected off internal structures. The returning echoes are received by the transducer and converted by an electronic instrument into an image of the internal structures on a viewing screen. These continually changing images can be recorded on film, paper, videotape, or computer. Diagnostic ultrasound imaging is commonly called sonography or ultrasonography. In an abdominal examination, ultrasound produces images of the major organs, including the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and large blood vessels.

You will be asked to lie on a bed while a machine scans your body. There is no pain at all.  Sometimes, a gel will be put on your skin to provide better contact. The room is also usually darkened while being tested. 
 

Preparation

Your doctor will probably tell you to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, or chewing gum for 8 hours prior to the exam if the gallbladder, pancreas, or the upper abdominal blood vessels are going to be scanned during the ultrasound exam. This is because these actions increase the amount of abdominal gas, and most of these actions alter blood flow in upper abdominal organs and cause the gallbladder to contract, preventing an adequate ultrasound examination.
 

After the Exam

After the exam, you can safely drive home and eat and drink normally.