Ultrasound
Ultrasound uses no radiation. With the aid of a computer, ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to create diagnostic images. Ultrasound exams are painless. During the exam, a transducer that emits inaudible sound waves is placed on your body. The sound waves are reflected back to the transducer (like sonar) and are translated into a moving image by a computer. This technology makes it possible to view the movement of internal organs in motion, such as a fetus during pregnancy or the flow of blood through a blood vessel.
Ultrasound is especially useful for providing information about abdominal organs such as the kidneys, liver, pancreas and gallbladder, as well as the breasts, uterus, ovaries, prostate and thyroid gland.
It is also used to view heart wall/valve motion and blood flow to look for narrowing of blood vessels to screen for stroke risk, and look for enlarged arteries to diagnose an aneurysm. Ultrasound is an excellent way to look for blood clots in the veins/arteries of the legs or arms.
Ultrasound is a quick, painless, and relatively inexpensive procedure. We work with highly trained ultrasound technologist who is credentialed, which means they have special ultrasound training and have passed a national examination.
Echocardiograms. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound examination of how the heart valves and muscle walls are working. If the cardiologist needs additional information, an echo stress test may be ordered. This would include an ultrasound examination of the heart at rest, then a treadmill stress test, followed by a stress ultrasound of the heart.
