Reviews and News on Ultrasound Machines

Ultrasound technology was first introduced in obstetrics about thirty years ago. In obstetrics, standard ultrasound machines produce a two-dimensional image of a developing fetus. It is used to obtain measurements, detect any abnormalities, and to determine gestational age. However, with a 2-D ultrasound machine, the image is usually grainy and it requires a qualified physician or sonographer to identify different parts of the body or problems. One of the undeniable advantages to 3-D and 4-D ultrasound imaging is that it provides patients and doctors with multi-planar images. While 3-D ultrasound scans are capable of showing 3-dimensional images, there is a delay in regard to time.

By contrast, a 4-D ultrasound machine provides health care professionals and patients with advantages that 2-D and 3-D ultrasounds do not offer. First, it provides a three-dimensional, more detailed image that clearly shows facial features and can show movements of the fetus in real- time. Soon-to-be parents can get a much clearer photographic image of what their child will look like. In fact, the video images that are captured are similar to those that are taken with a video camera. The ability to see movement as it is happening makes it easier to diagnose heart or spinal cord abnormalities, and respiratory problems. In addition, if there is a need to extract liquid from the fetus for diagnostic purposes, 4-D technology is more precise in pinpointing the exact location.

Currently, the most common reason a 4-D ultrasound is ordered by an obstetrician is to detect suspected abnormalities having to do with the internal organs of the fetus. 4-D ultrasound machines offer physicians better quantitative tools to assist with diagnosis, treatment and management of fetal healthcare. While 4-D ultrasound machines are still not common, they are beginning to make progress moving into routine clinical medical practices.

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People tend to think about ultrasound machines in terms of obstetrics, but not everyone is aware of their use in regard to physical therapy treatment. Today, ultrasound machines are more portable than ever, and they are now available to be used at home for therapy and pain relief. Home ultrasound machine units can be as effective at relieving pain as professional ultrasound machines. Professional ultrasound machines use a continuous wave and the home units use pulsed waves, which makes them safer for the general public to use. Since they are safer to use, patients that use a home ultrasound therapy machine are able to perform treatments on themselves more frequently than a professional medical office would.

With ultrasound therapy, high-frequency sound waves provide circulation through pulsation of the deep tissue that is located under the surface skin and by providing a therapeutic massage that releases tight muscles, reduces inflammation or muscle spasm by increasing by increasing blood flow to the area being treated.  Ultrasound therapy can be used to treat several pain related medical conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, tendonitis, and bursitis. In addition, research has shown that ultrasound therapy can be used to help heal bone fractures more rapidly. The ultrasound machine can combine sound pulses with heat which can be very soothing to the patient.

Ultrasound machines that are being used in the home can benefit patients with chronic pain in many ways. Many patients have claimed that treatment from an ultrasound therapy machine provided them with much better results in terms of relieving their pain than other common treatments including cortisone injections and surgery. Home ultrasound machines can also be a worthwhile investment in terms of costs. Consecutive ultrasound treatments at a medical equipment facility are much more costly than a one-time investment in a home ultrasound machine.

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In an era where the medical profession is constantly being informed of more dangers pertaining to x-ray radiation, medical equipment manufacturers are responding with new and improved versions of their most popular diagnostic machines. One example of this is the Hologic QDR 4000. A bone densitometer that has become the industry standard for many physicians, this Hologic machine is designed to do full scans of the lumbar spine, as well as the hip and forearm.

In addition to its longstanding reputation for making reliable bone densitometers, Hologic incorporates pencil-beam technology into its QDR series. Pencil-beam imaging techniques are widely known for providing the best quality image with a relatively low dose of radiation. Like all bone densitometers, the machine’s primary function is to assess a patient’s bone mineral status, but the QDR 4000 also offers a low-profile design for easy patient positioning.

DXA technology is considered the state-of-the-art method of diagnosing low bone mineral density (BMD), specifically as it relates to the disease of osteoporosis. As the technology behind these machines has improved, so has the package of software and peripherals provided to the physician. These tools help clinicians compare their patients’ relative BMD scores and more accurately determine the appropriate method of treatment to prevent additional bone loss.

The Hologic QDR 4000 bone densitometer features a compact 6 ft. patient table, pencil beam technology and a low patient dose of radiation, all packaged in a low-profile, state-of-the art design.

For physicians who want a quick and easy way to monitor their patients’ bone density before sending them out for DXA scan, Hologic makes a bone densitometer called the Sahara. This ultrasound based machine is radiation-free and weighs only 22 pounds, which makes it portable enough to be moved around from one examination room to another. While it takes up very little space – a cursory scan taking only one minute – it is the fastest bone densitometer on the market.

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Known as one of the safest types of diagnostic tests, ultrasound is a non-invasive method of viewing specific areas of the body. While not known to produce any harm to humans when used properly, diagnostic ultrasound should only be used by fully trained medical practitioners.

A recent trend toward “boutique” 3-D ultrasound pictures has caused some concern within the medical community because they are used on pregnant women by non-medical staffers. Whenever any type of diagnostic equipment is used outside of a medical environment, it is never considered a safe practice, but when the service is promoted to pregnant women, it is even more disturbing. Ultrasound machines may be relatively safe, but they can still have a mechanical or thermal effect on tissue, especially when a machine uses increased output.

In ultrasound scanning, “output” is the amount of energy used to obtain the desired image. With the recent introduction of 3-D Doppler imaging technologies, these machines have not been in use long enough to gage the effects of repeated use. Pulsed images that utilize “spectral Doppler” and color-flow imaging make more use of B-mode imaging. This has led some physicians to believe that ultrasound machines should not be used on pregnant women more often than medically necessary.

Regulations on these machines have not changed the ways in which they can be used in a medical setting, but they have placed the onus of responsibility on the operator of the machine, rather than the manufacturer, to ensure that a diagnostic test is done safely. This means the operator must be familiar with the scanner’s settings and understand the potential mechanical or thermal effects on human beings.

Most trained portable ultrasound technicians are taught to use the lowest output power and shortest scanning time necessary to gather the required data. There may be some situations where it is rational to use higher output, but this type of sensitivity will only come when a practitioner has been thoroughly trained on the equipment.

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The average patient may have a hard time imagining how ultrasound machines could play a role in pain management, but that is precisely what pain medicine clinics are focusing on. Using ultrasound guided nerve blocks; pain management specialists can now offer patients a more targeted therapeutic approach.

According to industry insiders, there are three ways in which ultrasound technology can be used to treat chronic pain sufferers. They include therapeutic and diagnostic procedures on nerves, new therapeutic and diagnostic actions on soft tissues, and certain types of injections.

This new form of pain therapy meets many objectives for patients and caregivers. Ideally, ultrasound imaging should produce images of both superficial and deep structures, using the highest possible resolution. It should also be a safe technique for both patient and operator and it should not require additional staff to operate. Medical professionals using ultrasound machines for pain management are looking for ease of use, portability, real-time guidance and compatibility with their existing pain management equipment.

Ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks can be done very quickly with no toxic side effects, as their safe needle positioning ensures the block only reaches targeted neuronal structures. The main advantages of this pain management technique are the absence of dangerous radiation and the ability for the practitioner to see the nerves and follow the treatment in real time. The use of ultrasound machines in pain medicine is relatively new, but it has been linked to improved outcomes in therapy and diagnostics.

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How are ultrasound machines providing patients with the option to stay awake during surgery?  Well, to avoid long recovery times and complications from general anesthesia, many new procedures are being done while the patient is fully awake; but it is only possible through the use of ultrasound guided anesthetics.

Now, instead of dealing with side effects from anesthesia and being confined to a hospital bed for days, “awake surgery” is allowing a patient to go home sooner, often on the same day that a surgery was performed.  This new technology is making routine operations safer and more efficient, especially for people who are at high risk of complications from general anesthesia.

Using a regional ultrasound procedure, local anesthetic can be administered to block nerve endings within the area of surgery.  This is just another example of an innovative technique that uses ultrasound technology in a new way, and recent advances in compact ultrasound machines have made this type of procedure more accessible to the general population.

This type of surgery requires an injection, which takes between 20 and 40 minutes to go into effect.  In surgeries of the hand or upper limbs, this injection is made in the nerves of the brachial plexus, which results in the arm becoming immobilized and completely numb.   In lower limb procedures, an injection is given in the sciatic nerves, either behind the knee or under the buttocks.  Depending on the type of drug used, patients can feel numb for up to 18 hours and get relief from post-surgical pain for up to 24 hours.

“Awake surgery” using ultrasound machines is still used primarily in procedures on the limbs, but it has also been used for heart and brain surgery.  Only time will tell how widely this procedure will be used in the surgical suite, but based on the results thus far it is here to stay.

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As ultrasound machines become more technologically advanced, so does the technology that goes into them, and one company is moving to the forefront creating solutions for the medical imaging industry. Samplify is a company based in Shenzhen, China, known for their wide range of optimized, high-performance medical imaging technology for OEMs.

In a recent press release, the company announced the launch of a new “beamforming” technology that will provide added flexibility for ultrasound machine OEMs. Their AutoFocus™ product will allow for a differentiated approach to creating the algorithms within software system design, and this product can be implemented within all types of ultrasound machines, from low-powered handhelds to cart-style ultrasound machines.

The biggest news about their new beam forming technology is how it allows for a phased array of imaging techniques within a variety of machine types, most of which could otherwise only afford a single algorithm due to power and cost constraints. With Samplify’s highly configurable platform, manufacturers of ultrasound machines can now take advantage of lower power usage and cost savings while differentiating their core product lines.

The new technology works by integrating an auto-focus engine that can refocus the ultrasound’s receiver automatically. This allows for images to be captured at different depths without the delay involved in recalculating and downloading data on the back-end computer. Using their QuadBeam feature, ultrasound machines made with this new beamforming technology can scan four scan-lines simultaneously, allowing for better lateral resolution and geometric definition. Not only will this innovation provide flexibility and speed for the customer, it will also consume up to 90% less power than FPGA devices.

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Ever since ultrasound machines emerged as a new medical imaging technique in the early 1960’s, its diagnostic capabilities have expanded far beyond obstetrics to include cardiology and many surgical and therapeutic applications. Non-radiologists are now using ultrasound machines in record numbers as a non-invasive method of clinical treatment.

Perhaps some of the reasons for ultrasound’s expansion are its relatively low cost, high degree of safety and immediate results. Because of its ability to utilize sound waves rather than damaging radiation, it can be used to create images of a wide variety of bodily structures. Since its inception, ultrasound has emerged as one of the more cost-effective diagnostic procedures.

Recent advancements in ultrasound technology have made it possible for imaging to be carried out in 3D and 4D versions using more complex computing and signal processing. This relatively new technology is expected to create a new wave of interest in developing technologically advanced applications for ultrasound machines. It has already revolutionized the way that obstetricians can create images of unborn babies.

Another development is the use of ultrasound in liver elastography, which will help doctors detect early-stage liver disease. Using cutting-edge ultrasound scanners from Siemens, it is possible to analyze the elasticity of liver tissue in intricate detail for early diagnosis of liver diseases like cirrhosis. Ultrasound machines can also be used to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors in many parts of the body.

Ultrasound technology has also been used to study the heart through the use of echocardiograms, and researchers continue to explore new uses for focused ultrasound in carrying out non-invasive heart procedures. With all of this rapid advancement, there is little doubt that we will continue to see ultrasound play an important role in every area of patient care.

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The use of ultrasound machine technology in a physical therapy setting originated in Europe, in the 1940’s. Over the years, advancements have been made in regards to therapeutic ultrasound. Today, ultrasound machines are now more commonly being used by chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and in the field of Sports Medicine. Ultrasound machines utilized for therapeutic treatment has proven to be an effective tool in treating arthritis, muscle pain, and joint pain. Typically, the treatment is performed by a professional therapist and is recommended for approximately fifteen minutes on a daily basis for two to ten weeks. This is a non-toxic, non-invasive treatment that has been successful in providing relief from pain enabling the muscles to relax.

Ultrasound machine technology uses sound waves which generate heat to a particular area of the body. With the vibration generated from ultrasound machines, heat is generated by way of high frequency sound waves, and inflammation and swelling can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, when this type of heat is applied to a joint, it helps to loosen tissue and improves blood flow circulation. It can relieve some chronic and acute pain for patients participating in this type of treatment. Professionals have been known to successfully treat bursitis, shoulder dislocations, sprains, and tendinitis using ultrasound machine therapy treatments.

Ultrasound machine technology for therapeutic use is not a new concept. There are still some who are skeptical about its degree of effectiveness. However, ultrasound machines are being used more frequently by the medical community. While it is not guaranteed that it will alleviate pain indefinitely, or for all types of injuries, there are many patients who have been pleased with the results. When combined with stretching exercises, patients and therapists have concluded that the treatment is longer lasting and more noticeable. Patients have reported that some soreness is common immediately following treatment. Other benefits included repairing damaged tissue, relaxing muscle spasms, and a more rapid healing process.

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Since its inception back in the 1940s, ultrasound technology has become a very important and useful tool in the fields of medicine and science, and it continues to be one of the safest noninvasive forms of medical diagnostic imaging. Unlike some more harmful techniques, such as radiation, ultrasound machines have very few potential side effects. However, they have been linked to two potential physiological problems.

One area of concern with ultrasound machines is their ability to enhance the body’s inflammatory response. Studies have shown that ultrasounds can produce a certain type of mechanical pressure as its beams are conducted through soft tissue, which can result in bubbles within the tissue. It can also influence ions and cellular reactions, or distort the cell membrane by increasing the temperature of soft tissues.

Conversely, another group of researchers has claimed that the beams produced by ultrasounds can destroy blood clots in the brain before they can cause a stroke. In contrast to detractors of the technology, most medical practitioners have a fairly positive view of ultrasound equipment and technology. Any noninvasive technique without serious side effects is considered a “win” for the medical community.

Recent advancements in ultrasound machines have enabled them to be reduced to a 2 pound size compact version, which can take a picture of a patient’s neck arteries to show if they are thickened or clogged with plaque. According to researchers, if the neck arteries are clogged, then chances are that other arteries are as well.

Like any other medical device or treatment, one must balance the various risks and benefits of ultrasound technology to determine their comfort level with this type of treatment.