ULTRASOUND (sonography; sono is the Latin root word for sound).  Unlike other diagnostic tests which use x-rays, an ultrasound, also called a sonogram, operates by using sound waves with a frequency that is too high to be audible. An ultrasound is very safe and painless to the patient. Ultrasound is a very useful and diagnostic tool.

How an ultrasound works

The testing process begins when a liquid medium (gel) is spread onto the patient's skin where the area of study lies underneath. For example, a woman who is having an ultrasound to check the growth of her fetus will have gel spread directly onto the skin of her abdominal area. The gel optimizes the transmission and pick-up of sound waves by eliminating air between the transducer and skin. A transducer is a small device, shaped much like a microphone, which emits sound waves and receives returning sound waves or echoes. The gel is harmless.

 Once the gel has been spread, the transducer is then placed onto the lubricated area. The transducer emits sound waves into the area of focus. When the sound waves encounter a border between two tissues that conduct sound differently, echoes will bounce back to the transducer. The echoes are read as data by a computer and then transformed into images that appear on a small monitor. As the transducer moves along the body, the images will correspond with the changing placement, called real-time imaging.

 The Ultrasound department performs a wide variety of diagnostic and interventional procedures.  Areas of particular expertise include breast imaging, thyroid nodule diagnosis, prostate biopsies, venous and arterial imaging, fine needle aspiration, and gynecologic imaging.