Ultrasonography is one diagnostic method available to the doctor, but not the only one that can be used to screen and diagnose the patient.
In short, the entire method involves sending, via an ultrasound beam, a probe that is reflected from the tissues back to the camera and is there converted into a picture, and this varies depending on the density of the tissue. Thus, fluids in an image are black, and the greater the density of the tissues, the brighter the image.
You usually meet first the sonogram technician, who in the event of a diagnostic problem asks for a consultation with a doctor, usually a radiologist, or, in the case of prenatal diagnosis, a gynaecologist who is trained in this field.
The presence of ultrasound has become widespread - in some areas it is well known, such as in gynaecology and obstetrics, cardiology and internal medicine, paediatrics and orthopaedics. But also, because X-rays are not able to diagnose soft tissue and ligaments, it also gets used for muscles and joints. The real breakthrough, however, is in obstetrics and gynaecology.
In modern ultrasounds, in real-time 3D/4D, you can stop – "freeze" – the image of the selected layers of organ on the screen and make measurements: the distance of any point, the length of perimeter and area of any structure, the size of the angle between the elements of anatomy and volume of any space. For the image being studied on the screen, you can register each phase and include it on a dvd, thermal-sensitive paper or photo paper.
Ultrasonography is a non-invasive method of detecting the pathological changes in organs without the need for administering contrast media. This method allows the evaluation of the shape, size and position of organs or anatomical space, and the surface and interior of the organs. Most frequently it shows the organ in the longitudinal and transverse dimensions, but it can be observed in any cross section. From the evaluation of echostructure of the testing organ, we can draw some conclusions concerning the nature of diagnostic changes - inflammatory, atrophic, degenerative or neoplastic, and finally, to suggest whether something is benign or malignant.
The same applies to the pathological creations located inside the organs, which frequently reflect the ultrasound differently than their environment.