Ultrasound machines send sound waves through your body and converts the waves that bounce back into electric impusles, thereby mapping out your body.
It is used to examine:
- the abdomen for gallstones and liver disease
- pelvis for cysts and tumors
- thyroid
- breasts
- female reproductive system
- fetuses for birth defects
- prostate
- kidney and bladder
- heart and blood vessels for heart disease
- all parts of the body
It is also used to guide fine-needle biopsies.
The patient will lie on a bed and expose the area being examined. The technician will then put conductive gel on a transducer probe and place it on the skin. The gel might feel cold at first.
The technician will then probe around until he or she finds the appropriate organs and take pictures of them.
A patient doing a bladder study will have to perform the study first with a full bladder and then empty his or her bladder for the second half of the study.
If performing an abdominal exam, patients are required to abstain from eating and drinking anything except water for 6-8 hours.
If performing a bladder exam, patients are required to drink at least 6 cups of water and hold in their urine.
Do not use any perfume or oily lotion on the day of the exam.
The patient will wipe off the gel, change back into his or her clothes and go home to resume all normal activities.