Medical Ultrasound London

Medical Ultrasound London

Ultrasound

What is ultrasound?
Ultrasound is a very high pitch sound. Within sound there are different frequencies. The human ear can detect sound with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. Ultrasound is like the ordinary sound we hear except that is has a higher frequency then that to which the human hearing system responds. Dogs for example can hear a higher pitch of sound then we can.

We read frequency of sound in Hertz (Hz) or Megahertz (MHz). Hertz relates to one cycle of sound per second. Megahertz relates to one million, therefore, one Megahertz is 1, 000, 000 Hz.

For example within music middle C has a frequency of about 500 Hz.

Some animals like bats and dolphins can send out sound as well as receive sound at frequencies above 20 kHz. Within Ultrasound we produce sound through mechanical vibrations at above 20,000 Hz, any sound at this level or above this is defined Ultrasound.

The Ultrasound level we use in medical diagnostic imaging are between 3 to 15 MHz.

Transducer
We use a tool called a transducer or probe to produce and receive the ultrasound. They have hundreds of tiny special crystals in them. The Transducers come in different shapes and sizes, depending on which type of scan we need to do.

What is the difference between 2D/3D/4D
The regular two dimensional scan (2D) is in black and white and is used to look inside organs, for example we can see the baby inside the mothers uterus, as well as see the internal organs inside the baby before he or she is born. We use this to look at your baby during the Anomaly scan, this allows us to see any defects that might be present and will give you an unique once in a lifetime opportunity to see inside your baby's heart !

The three/four dimensional scan (3D/4D) is in colour (sepia) and is called a Surface Rendering type of scan. This is when only the outer layer of the image is shown. We use this for our bonding scan or to look for any soft tissue anomaly (cleft lip). The movement of the baby is known as the 4th dimension (4D) and movement is seen in real time, so as the mother is feeling the baby move inside of her, so we can simultaniously see what type of movements the baby is doing...... this could be; stretching, flexing the hands, reaching out playing with toes or even waving back at you.......

3D/4D also allows you to see your baby smiling, swallowing fluid, poking out a tiny tongue and sometimes even though their world is dark inside we can capture them opening their eyes and looking around......