What are the Different Types of Sonography?
17 December 2009
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There are multiple different uses of ultrasound technology in the world of medicine. Each area of ultrasound technology requires different skills and methods to generate an accurate image and diagnosis.
Cardiac sonography
Cardiac sonography – or echocardiography – is a form of sonography in which the ultrasound technician looks for abnormalities in the heart and the surrounding blood vessels. It can either be carried out in a non-invasive fashion by taking images through the chest wall or invasively by taking images through the esophagus. The invasive form gives a clearer image, although it is understandably uncomfortable for the patient. Cardiac sonography is used to look for a wide range of abnormalities including leakage from blood vessels, abnormalities with regard to heart output and structural abnormalities.
Vascular sonography
Vascular sonography is closely linked to cardiac sonography, although it is an independent field in its own right. It involves using ultrasound equipment to look for abnormalities in the blood vessels. Most commonly, this involves looking for unusual enlargement of blood vessels, which can indicate an aneurysm. Other uses of vascular sonography include monitoring blood flow to various organs and to detect blood clots and blockages.
Abdominal sonography
Abdominal sonography is used to visualize many organs, including the kidneys, the pancreases, the liver and the gall bladder. Many different medical conditions can be diagnosed from abdominal ultrasound, including gall/kidney stones and liver problems.
Obstetric sonography
Obstetric sonography is the most well-known and well-used form of sonography. It is often used to check for the presence of a developing fetus and to check the progress of the development, ensuring everything is going as it should be. It can also be used to detect congenital abnormalities, to work out how far along the pregnancy is and to ensure enough amniotic fluid is present.
Breast sonography
Breast sonograpy is used to diagnose any abnormalities a doctor may have found during a physical examination. Breast sonography is used to tell if the lump is benign or malignant due to being able to differentiate between solid (therefore a malignant tumour) and fluid-filled (a benign cyst) lumps.
Other areas
Although not as common, there are many other areas of medicine that use sonography. Neurological sonography involves observing the nervous system and its surrounding blood vessels, ophthalmic sonography involves looking at the eyes and thyroid sonography can be used to detect disorders with the thyroid gland.
How does one specialize in their desired area?
You can specialize in your desired area in a few ways. You can enroll in a sonography tech program that focuses on the area you are interested in, or you can go into a general sonography program and choose a specialization later (although you should make sure that any areas you are interested in are taught at that school beforehand).
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