Ultrasound Procedures and Exams

Abdominal
Neck/Thyroid
Pelvic
Obstetrical
Venous/Arterial (with exception of extremities)
Musculosketal

HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR EXAM

Wear comfortable, loose fitting clothing. No other preparation is needed. Please do not bring young children with you as they get bored and may disrupt the exam.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING YOUR EXAM

Most musculoskeletal ultrasound studies are relatively quick and comfortable. You will be lying on your back or stomach on an examining table. A sonographer will spread a clear gel on your skin and press the transducer firmly against the area being examined. Most examinations take less than 45 minutes.

THE ULTRASOUND MACHINE

The Ultrasound machine has a transducer, which is a small hand-held device which looks like a microphone. The sonographer will put a clear, water-soluble, lubricating gel on your skin and firmly press the transducer against the skin.

The ultrasound image is then seen on a computer screen attached to the machine. The radiologist or sonographer watches this screen during this examination. During the examination, they will "freeze" the images on the screen and save pictures from it, which will be evaluated by the radiologist.

Ultrasound is based on the same principles as sonar used by ships, bats or fishermen with fish detectors. As the sound waves go through the body, the waves bounce back, or "echo," back to the transducer. A very fast computer in the ultrasound machine interprets how far away the tissue is that caused the echo, its size, shape and consistency (such as fluid or solid). It then turns this information into the pictures you see on the monitor. Most of the images are of varying shades of gray. These are "2-D" images that show anatomy. Images may also be obtained with Doppler, which checks for blood flow. These Doppler images show on the computer either as color Doppler pictures or as duplex Doppler pictures. Duplex Doppler shows us white waves, and is usually associated with listening to the waves at the same time, which often gives a rhythmic whooshing sound.

For more information on musculoskeletal ultrasound, check out http://www.radiologyresource.org/content/ultrasound-muscskel.htm (general info on musculoskeletal US)

And, http://www.med.umich.edu/rad/muscskel/mskus/index.html (more technical info, with many musculoskeletal US images)