Just last year, insurance companies announced plans to limit coverage of mammogram screenings in women who are under 45 or who are not within a high-risk category for breast cancer. Part of the reason for this recommendation may have been motivated by the high cost of the tests, but some in the medical community believe mammograms expose patients to higher levels of radiation than necessary.

Until recently, ultrasound scanning was not used to detect cancer because it could only provide a two dimensional image of the area in question. However, the new 3-D Doppler ultrasound machines use a special technique that allows doctors to evaluate the blood flow through the major arteries of the body, as well as the veins of the arms, legs, neck and abdomen.

Mammography is still the primary diagnostic tool for finding abnormalities in the breast, but the use of ultrasound, particularly Doppler 3-D ultrasound, is in on the rise. One reason for this is the improved safety of ultrasound, and another is relative cost of the test. Plus, mammography can be less than accurate when a woman has dense, glandular breasts. Many clinicians prefer to use ultrasound machine imaging as a secondary method of determining whether an abnormality is a sold mass, a fluid filled cyst, or both. It can also show some of the area’s other unique characteristics.

In addition to the size, shape and texture of a breast abnormality, Doppler ultrasound can assess the blood supply in lesions of the breast. As a result, it is often used as a supplemental method of cancer screening for women who are at high risk for breast cancer and unable to tolerate an MRI.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Portable Ultrasound, portable ultrasound machines, ultrasound machine, Used Medical Equipment

Medical imaging or ultrasound machine technology has progressed in numerous ways over the years. Ultrasound machine capabilities and functions are more widely used in the medical field today and provide more effective diagnostic treatment than in the past. Ultrasound machine technology uses echoes and high frequency sound waves to create imagery. The industry has advanced by providing expedience, convenience, better image quality, and enhanced memory capacity. Also, portable or hand-carried ultrasound machines offer more mobility and easy to operate systems have allowed less experienced medical providers to provide quality care. It is important to note that ultrasound machines have reduced overall healthcare costs since they have replaced more costly diagnostic exams.

Years ago, ultrasound machines were utilized primarily in the fields of gynecology and obstetrics. Doctors and other medical professionals used the technology to observe and monitor prenatal conditions such as fetal size, position, gender, and growth rate. Recently, gynecologists have discovered that ultrasound machines are valuable tools for the detection of breast cancer. In addition to gynecology and obstetrics, ultrasound machines are effectively being used in other medical fields to detect abnormalities and for cancer screening.

Here are some other uses for ultrasound machine technology in the medical field:

* Emergency room workers are using ultrasound machines as a diagnostic tool in the ER.
* Cardiologists are using ultrasound machines to provide an image of the heart that can identify function abnormalities and measure blood flow.
* Urologists are able to use ultrasound machine technology to detect kidney stones and prostate cancer.
* In addition, ultrasound machines have recently been used in conjunction with rectum and colon exams and for treating chronic tendonitis.

Ultrasound machine technology is significantly beneficial to the medical community since it can be utilized without radiation and it can diagnose problems quicker than x-rays

Thanks to a revolutionary new approach, neurosurgeons can now avoid radiation and scalpels when performing brain surgery.  Using a new ultrasound machine in conjunction with MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), neurosurgeons can now precisely burn out very small portions of malfunctioning brain tissue without ever cutting the skin.  Based on a preliminary study performed in Switzerland, the use of this new ultrasound technology on nine chronic pain patients has shown that the technology can be safely used in humans.  The next step is to test its effectiveness with other disorders, such as Parkinson’s.

Ultrasound machines, used in conjunction with MRI, are responsible for this groundbreaking discovery, which is based on using extreme precision to create lesions deep in the brain without the need to perform traditional brain surgery.  A neurosurgeon at the University of Virginia, Neal Kassel, has been directly involved in developing new applications for focused ultrasound.  He is chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville, VA.

How is high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) different from diagnostic ultrasound?

By using a special device, intense ultrasound beams can be focused on a small piece of tissue.  The beams can heat it up and destroy it without breaking the skin.  Currently, this ultrasound technology is being used to ablate uterine fibroids, and is being tested for use in breast and other cancers.

One Israel-based ultrasound technology company, InSightec, is developing experimental HIFU devices for use in brain surgery.  The major challenge in developing this technology is figuring out how best to focus beams through the skull, because the skull absorbs and distorts the path of energy from sound waves.  Also, because ultrasound beams absorb energy and convert it into heat, the temperature of the skull can go up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a result, the device has a built-in cooling system to prevent skull tissue from overheating.

An experimental version of InSightec’s device is now being tested in 5 medical centers around the world, and neurosurgeons like Neal Kassel hope this will give ultrasound equipment manufacturers the impetus start focusing on the brain.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Portable Ultrasound, portable ultrasound machines, Ultrasound Machines, Used Medical Equipment

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.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: care medical, high intensity focused ultrasoud, Medical Equipment, medical imaging, medical supply, portable ultrasound machines, ultrasonic probe, Ultrasound, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, ultrasound probe, ultrasound technology, ultrasound transducer, Ultrasound Transducers, Used Medical Equipment

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.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Fetal Monitors, high intensity focused ultrasoud, Medical Equipment, medical imaging, medical supply, obstetrics, portable ultrasound machines, pregnancy, ultrasonic probe, Ultrasound, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, ultrasound probe, ultrasound technology, ultrasound transducer, Ultrasound Transducers, Used Medical Equipment

Obstetrics is the special deal of care given to a lady and her child during her period of pregnancy, puerperium and child birth. In the obstetric exercise, the obstetric practitioners look after the pregnant woman on a regular basis to check the growth of the offspring. These obstetrics ensures that there is no ex-novo disease and no other preexisting diseases in the body of the pregnant woman which may possibly affect the baby in future.

Some of the risks which should be seen by an obstetric practitioner are pre-eclampsia, abnormal fetal presentation, abnormal placentation and intrauterine growth restriction. All such risk identification requires some special analysis of the woman on the regular basis. For example to check for pre-eclampsia, albuminuria i.e. the level of urine protein and blood pressure are checked at regular intervals.

In late pregnancies some of the fetal presentations get established like cephalic presentation which involves head first but the baby can be present buttocks first or feet first, transverse or at an oblique presentation. Some of the intrauterine growth restrictions observed by the obstetric practitioners is a general designation in which the offspring is smaller than the expected size, in this case such serious growth symptoms shows a behavior to drop off from the 50 percentile and coming above 10 percentile.

All the calculations are obtained when plotted on a fetal growth chart. Different causes can be extrinsic, relating to the problems apart from the fetus and different causes can be intrinsic, which means relating to the problems of the fetus. An obstetrician needs to check for all types of symptoms to save a child from any of the problems which may arise in future and for the pregnant lady to ensure the successful delivery. Thus for a complete growth of the child obstetrician has a big role to play.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, obstetrics, portable ultrasound machines

Body surface area in medical terms is the measurement of the complete surface area of the human body. It is abbreviated as BSA. For many medical applications, body surface area is a better indicator of the amount of the mass present against the body weight. These surface areas are affected by abnormal adipose mass.

When a cardiac ultrasound procedure is conducted on a patient with aortic stenosis with out the correct calculated body surface area, it can result in misdiagnosis of the seriousness of the patient’s aortic or other cardio condition. It is just common sense that the body surface area calculation of the patient will establish what the correct size for the individual’s aortic valve must be.

At a presentation of the American Society of Echocardiography, the results of a study that was conducted showed the importance of not only considering the size of the aortic valve area when making an assessment of the seriousness of aortic stenosis. Another commonly neglected important factor that contributes to the correctness of the procedure is the body surface area calculation, that plays an integral part when making use of this type of ultrasound technology in a procedure.

This particular study unwrapped the fact that when a corrective procedure with respect to aortic stenosis are not performed with the correct body surface area calculated for the specific individual, the wrong calculated valve area will obviously result in the under diagnosis of the severity of the aortic stenosis condition and will have even more severe results.

BSA is determined by recording a patient’s height and weight with the appropriate medical equipment. There are various types of formulas used for the calculation of the approximate body surface areas. Depending upon some constant scaling factor and the ratios of the height and weight, the surface area of the body is calculated.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, ultrasound machine

In the world of medical equipment Color Flow Mode (CFM) is also called 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 in the ultrasound machine 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 of ultrasound machines. 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 ultrasound technology which enables us to study ultrasonic waves as a means of calculating 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.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, ultrasound technology

Fetal monitors are used at hospital and medical facilities to monitor fetuses and are also available for domestic or home use. There is a bunch of such products available in the market and one needs to have a good understanding of the common features and specifications commonly available on different models in order to separate the good ones from the bad and to choose the right one, which offers extra features.

The Corometrics 145 fetal monitor from GE was exclusively designed for hospital use and is quite expensive for domestic or home use. It uses ultrasound technology such as continuous external wave Doppler with autocorrelation processing and ultrasonic signals to accurately analyze the health of the fetus based on measured parameters such as heart rate and contractions of the heart as well as uterine activity of a developing baby. The data gathered through such external interference rather than using probes or intrusive devices, can be either printed out or displayed on a digital screen for analysis.

The reason why most fetal monitors are not prescribed for home use is because they are cumbersome to use and requires an understanding of the readings that they generate. They are also quite expensive to procure and are hence most suited to hospitals and clinics.

The operations on the Corometrics 145 ultrasound machine are all exclusively performed using buttons that are easy to use and user friendly. It is often more economical to buy this device online from a medical equipment supplier than to go for a retail purchase. It comes with TOCO and US transduction and provides highly accurate readings and ultrasound FHR tracings.

The printing resolution provided by thermal linear array makes the readings easy to analyze and record. They also offer consistent uterine activity recordings and everything is done using push buttons, which makes the whole process rather simple, and user friendly.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Fetal Monitors, Medical Equipment, ultrasound machine, ultrasound technology

Ultrasound technology has allowed medical practitioners the advantage to examine inner organs of patients without any surgical intrusion into their bodies. Ultrasound machines are most commonly used for examining pregnant women, in order to safely ensure that the pregnancy is proceeding normally and without any complications.

When one really looks at the options that are available when it comes to procuring a good ultrasound machine for your medical facility, the choices narrow down to two manufacturers, GE and Philips. Though these are not the only ultrasound machine manufacturers with the technical advancements necessary to accurately and consistently visualize and determine organ volume measurements, they are the most prolific at least in churning out such equipments.

The Philips IU22 Ultrasound Machine is used for general imaging and has wide clinical application capabilities. It has a multitude of applications in different spheres of anatomical classifications including Cerebrovascular, gynecological and musculoskeletal imaging.

In terms of simplicity, user friendliness, performance and efficiency, the Philips IU22 touches new heights. It has advanced quantification features and the image quality is excellent. It allows for volume imaging and the workstation view ability is similar to that of CT and MR.

Because it renders a 3D view of the image, the more obscure details that are lost in a 2D image are perceivable and hence more critical information can be gathered from each image. The new VL13-5 volume linear array transducer on the iU22 system aids in reviewing volume imaging data for superficial applications in areas such as breast, thyroid, musculoskeletal and vascular.

Studies have shown a marked reduction in examination times due to the use of this medical equipment machine. The percentage of failed ultrasound exams are also substantially less with the use of the Philips IU22. The use of technology such as the pure wave transducer, advanced XRES and tissue aberration correction help to characterize organ features and helps improve treatment planning for breast tumors and such.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Ultrasound, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, ultrasound technology