Thursday, August 15, 2013

Essential Information About Ultrasound Kansas City Residents Need To Know

By Andrea Davidson


The main building blocks of making a medical diagnosis are patient history and physical examination. The emergence of ultrasound imaging has improved diagnostic processes by making it possible for medical practitioners to have a clear view of affected organs and soft tissues. The information obtained is used to determine the size, shape and consistency of these structures. There are certain things about ultrasound Kansas City residents need to know.

The test is generally performed by a trained sonographer or technician. The information is instantly relayed on a computer screen where it displays the images. These experts are able to notice preliminary structures during the examination process. The official reading of the report is given by a radiologist.

This technology is applied in a number of fields including medicine. It is particularly useful in pregnancy. It is commonly used to reveal presence of multiples such as twins, detect ectopic pregnancies and to detect due dates. It is an effective tool used to detect potential birth complications such as placental issues, breech positioning, birth defects among other problems. It used by expectant mothers to identify the sex of their babies during pregnancy. It is also used to obtain information concerning the size of the baby before delivery.

It is applied in the diagnosis of a wide variety of conditions affecting soft tissues and organs in the body. These include blood, heart, kidneys, ovaries, eyes, thyroid among others. There are several diagnostic limitations of ultrasounds. Sound waves are unable to effectively transmit through dense bones or other parts of the body that contain air or gas such as the bowel.

There are certain medical procedures that require a high level of precision. These include procedures such as needle biopsies in which doctors remove tissues from a specific area inside the body for testing purposes. Several blood vessel diseases are detected using this test. Medical practitioners are able to predict the potential risk for stroke by measuring the rate of blood flow and blockage using ultrasound. It also helps to detect abnormal dilation and to predict the risk of rapture.

This procedure has been proved to be very safe and patients are not exposed to any harmful agents. They are painless due to the fact that no injections or incisions are performed. Moreover, there are no harmful ionizing radiations which are present in other diagnostic procedures such as X-rays and CT scans. It has better clarity, captures more details and is more powerful. It costs less and can be accessed easily.

Basic preparation is required prior to the test. Depending on the test to be performed, the doctor may give special instructions. These may include not eating or drinking anything for a certain period before the test. It is important to wear comfortable clothing to allow the technician to access the body area easily. A typical session takes between thirty minutes and one hour.

The improved technology in ultrasound Kansas City based medical centers have adopted allows them to perform different types of imaging for various purposes. Bone sonography helps to diagnose osteoporosis, Doppler creates images of blood flow and echocardiograms present images of the heart. 3D imaging presents more detailed images while 4D ultrasounds introduces motion in the 3D images.




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