Reviews and News on Ultrasound Machines

Sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis can become quite accustomed to x-rays, as this has always been the best way for doctors to monitor joint degeneration. When a physician begins to see “discrete bony destruction” in its early stages, it is usually a precursor to a more severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. While the common x-ray machine has played a major role in evaluating this type of erosion, it is not always sensitive enough when the disease is in the early stages. In other words, a more significant amount of joint destruction would need to take place in order for the x-ray machine to catch it.

Much of the focus on treating rheumatoid arthritis has been on early detection and intervention, which has prompted medical professionals to look at other modalities of imaging. These have included MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and ultrasound. While MRI has proven to be sensitive enough for the detection of early rheumatoid arthritis, it can be very expensive. As a result, ultrasound machines are becoming a more attractive option. Not only is it much less expensive to use, it does not expose a patient to any radiation, and recent advancements in ultrasound machines have made it highly effective. Compared with standard x-ray imaging, ultrasound machines were found to be far superior in the detection of early bone erosion.

Looking at the results of a recent study of 100 rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, far more abnormalities were detected in more patients when ultrasound was used. In fact, upon further analysis it was found that bone erosions were 6.5 times more likely to be found using ultrasound machines than with x-ray films. Researchers familiar with these results have concluded that ultrasound is a much more reliable method than x-ray radiography at detecting bone erosion in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

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

Ultrasound machine scanners are normally thought of as a diagnostic tool used during pregnancy, or as a way to quickly assess an injury without exposing a patient to the unnecessary radiation of an x-ray. But the technology that allows ultrasound to be used as a tool for scanning the inside of the body is relatively new. Since it was first introduced over a decade ago, EUS, or endoscopic ultrasound scanning, has been used in a number of different situations. These include:

• Staging of certain cancers, such as stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal and rectal cancer

• It can also be used for the staging of lung cancer

• Analysis of what might be causing chronic pancreatitis

• Examination of abnormalities in the bile duct, gallbladder or liver

• Studying nodules, bumps or lesions that may be within the walls of the intestines, but hidden from view by the intestinal lining

Since the ability to “stage” a cancer diagnosis is so important in recommending treatment, endoscopic ultrasound is becoming an important tool for oncologists. If cancer cells leave the original site of the lesion and travel to other parts of the body, as it does in Stage 4, the prognosis and method of treatment would be vastly different from Stage 1 or 2 isolated tumors.

While EUS can provide important information about the penetration and spread of cancer cells in adjacent tissues, it is not without its own risks. Like any other endoscopic procedure, endoscopic portable ultrasounds are very safe, but when a fine needle aspiration (FNA) is done, there is a slight risk of perforation, particularly in the intestinal wall. Pancreatitis could also occur when a FNA is performed in that area, but this usually resolves on its own within a few days. For the most part, EUS is known as one of the safest procedures in diagnostic imaging.

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

When the average patient finds out they will be getting an “ultrasound machine” procedure, they typically think of a diagnostic imaging test that works much like an x-ray. However, with the continuous advancements in ultrasound technology, it is also being used for many other procedures. One of these is endoscopic imaging.
An endoscopic ultrasound allows doctors to learn more about the inner workings of a patient’s digestive tract, as well as other organs and tissues that surround it. By inserting a long and flexible tube into the patient’s mouth or rectum, doctors can visualize the structures within the body from a different vantage point. Organs may include the ovaries or uterus in women, or the liver, pancreas, aorta or gallbladder. Wherever the tube can reach, it is possible to scan it with an endoscopic ultrasound.

Unlike the larger transducers used on traditional ultrasound machines, which measure sound waves as they bounce off of an object and return to the scanner, an endoscopic ultrasound scanner (EUS) is able to obtain images of even greater detail in a transducer that fits on the tip of the tube. Just the proximity of the EUS transducer to the organs being scanned has a lot to do with how accurate and detailed these images are. That’s why it is so important to conduct this type of ultrasound when doctors want to learn about the more intricate areas of the body. EUS scanning can even be used to view the layers of the intestinal wall, or view the adjacent blood vessels and lymph nodes.

When Doppler ultrasound is applied to endoscopic ultrasound machine, it is possible to measure the flow of blood and obtain tissue samples in an area by using a special ultrasound-guided needle. This technique is known as fine needle aspiration (FNA), and its use is becoming much more common as a diagnostic tool.

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