The Pros And Cons Of Ultrasonography

Ultrasonography has been used in America for over forty years and is the most common diagnostic imaging method for obstetrics, but have ultrasounds ever been considered safe for use on patients? According to the FDA, ultrasonic imaging has an excellent safety record because it uses non-ionizing radiation. Therefore, it does not pose the same risks as X-rays or other imaging systems like nuclear medicine and computed tomography which use ionizing radiation (3). In spite of ultrasound’s shocking but impressive safety record, research proves that ultrasounds are not to be considered “perfectly safe.” It has been extremely difficult for researchers to link subsequent defects to ultrasound imaging because of the extended length of time the effects begin to appear. However, just because there have not been any known incidents of human injury reported does not mean that they do not exist. The

Instead of radiation, ultrasounds use high frequency sound waves to view inside the body. The sound waves are exactly like audible sound waves except the frequency is so high that humans cannot hear them. In the exam, a thin layer of gel is applied to the skin and the transducer transmits sound waves that move directly through the gel and into the body. When the sound waves are reflected by body structures, the transducer receives this information and sends it to a computer which interprets and creates an image.

There are several benefits of ultrasound imaging. Some of these benefits include: the many diagnostic uses of ultrasound, the cost effectiveness of the procedure compared to the other methods of diagnostic imaging; also the broad patient acceptance because the procedure is noninvasive, and the high quality information obtained from the image. The reason the information is considered high quality is because ultrasounds are achieved in real time, meaning as the organ systems of the body are moving, so is the