Reviews and News on Ultrasound Machines

Pulse Wave Doppler is an imaging technique based on the ultrasound imaging principle. Ultrasound images of blood flow, either by Color Flow, Power Doppler, Continuous Wave, or Pulse Wave Doppler all essentially give the movement of the blood. Using any of the methods details about the heart circulation and blood can be found. In the technique of Pulse Wave Doppler (PWD) a series of electrical pulses are transmitted to visualize the movement of blood.

The electrical pulses sent give the echoes; depending upon the echoes the blood flow is calculated. By the Doppler Effect it can be clearly differentiated among the blood vessels and the body tissues. As the echoes from the stationary type body tissues are constant and do not change from pulse to pulse while echoes from the moving objects like blood changes from time to time with every pulse. These differences in the flow can be directly measured by the time difference or in terms of the phase difference from which the Doppler Frequency is determined.

In Pulse Wave Doppler imaging the electrical signals are sent in the form of pulses. The transmission of the pulsated signal is produced by the oscillators, which changes its voltage according to the resonance frequency. Short duration pulses of the ultrasound frequency are sent with a specific frequency, which is known as pulse repetition frequency (PRF). In the duration of the pulse transmission echoes continuously returns to the receiving transducer, but all the receiving signals are not viewed. The receiving transducer has its fixed frequency to open the gate for receiving the signals. The shift in the frequency from the pulse transmission is to allow the estimation of the Doppler Frequency Shift.

Pulse Wave Doppler is a famous technique used for imaging the blood flow by the electrical pulse methods and the technique has its own instruments, which are used to measure the blood flow.

Corometrics has a proven track record in the manufacture of fetal monitors that are compact and light weight and aid in the measurement of heart functions and uterine activity. The quality is unmatched as is to be expected from any GE machinery. The wide beam 9 crystal Nautilus watertight ultrasound transducers that these machines incorporate acquire accurate signals in the measurement of fetal heart rate. These sleek machines are also user friendly and come with an intuitive user interface. The display lists the main parameters which make for easy reading and also allows for printing the results on graphs.

All GE Corometrics 170 Series 174 Fetal Monitor System have dual ultrasound internal and external monitoring. They are the ideal non intrusive monitoring systems that are available in the market today and are moderately priced with assured quality and reliability. These machines are compact and light weight making them easy to be moved around. They can be ideal for home or for use as they are highly affordable.

The main features of the machine include, high and low threshold alarms that indicate possible abnormal activity on the parameters that have been provided. The monitors also provide differentiation in the heart rates of twin babies and clearly separate the two. The machine also ensures the heart beat coincidence of the fetus twice so that there is no confusion between the two beats. There are independent volume controllers for both fetuses in twin baby monitoring situations.

The Fetal Movement detection options allows for the monitoring of the fetal movements and automatic recording of the same on chart paper. The LED lights and single touch buttons makes it convenient to use. The optional Fetal Acoustic Stimulator uses low frequency stimuli to wake the fetus which increases the reliability of the anti partum tests and retest consistency. There are musical indicators for most parametric monitoring done on the machine.

Color Flow Mode (CFM) is also called as Color Flow Doppler Imaging (CFD). These are the ultrasonic imaging techniques used for measuring the blood flow through the heart. They display the flow data on the 2-D echocardiography image. The technique is mainly used for determining the congenital, valvular and other forms of disease related to heart.

The color flow mode imaging is based on the Doppler Effect of the acoustics. The Doppler Effect helps to find out the blood flow from different parts of the body. It helps to identify the direction of the flow of blood. Color flow mode imaging is understandable to the common user. They avoid the displays of the complex spectral velocity structures.

In the color flow imaging different colors defines the direction of the given jet. The red color and blue colors are taken for defining the direction. The change in the hues from bright to dull depicts the change in the velocities. When there is turbulence in the blood flow a mosaic of colors is formed. Therefore a 2-D display of the blood flow is depicted by the identification of size, velocity and direction.

Red color is used to depict the flow towards the transducer and the blue color is used to depict the flow away from the transducer. Different color references can always be seen in different Doppler Imaging devices. Generally in color flow mode the color bar of black color represents zero flow.

Color flow mode is a very easy and understandable way to study the ultrasonic waves to calculate the blood flow. By making different colors as the codes to measure the flow of blood people can get easily the meaning of the reports generated. These techniques work in the normal hearing range of the humans thus are not harmful for humans.

Mammography machines help analyze breast tissue for possible incidence of cancer and are the choicest tools for guiding breast biopsy procedures. It works by directing a low frequency X-ray through the breast tissue and rendering detailed images for the physician to analyze. The high clarity and definition of these images helps perceive even delicate tissues within the breast. The GE Senographe DMR Mammography Machine is a highly advanced state of the art piece of medical equipment from GE that delivers high performance at affordable costs. GE has been a pioneer in mammography machine manufacturing and over the years has set high industry standards which are rarely matched by competitors.

The machine is very user friendly and has 5 photocells for expansive imaging functionalities in breast placement and digital angulations display. It also provides hands free compression and offers more interaction with the patient by way of vertical height adjustment. The quality of images rendered by a mammography machine is of utmost importance. The high image quality increases the diagnostic capabilities of physicians and the GE Senographe DMR is ahead of the competition in that it delivers high quality images with superb clarity by using dedicated MaxiRay X-ray tube and SharpIQ grid. The MaxiRay bi-metal rhodium or molybdenum tube offers extensive penetration and comes with an inner focusing cone. The high X-ray spectrum provided by these metals penetrates even the densest of breast tissues and reveals details that are obscure in images rendered by other machines.

The unrivalled image quality and magnification provided by this tube sets the machine apart from its competitors. The machine reduces exposure time, which ensures image quality and cuts down dose by 40 percent which allows for examination of dense breasts without reduction in image quality. The anti scatter grid movement is also optimized by the SharpIQ and DMR features which provides high definition images. The machine as with most GE products is consistent and reliable and also ensures automatic optimization of parameters. The digital display, flipping markers and single magnification stand all add to overall design and renders it highly user friendly.