Abdominal Ultrasound
Abdominal ultrasound is specifically used to detect any abnormalities of the abdominal organs and other structures in the upper abdominal regions. An abdominal ultrasound can aid in determining the cause of abdominal pain or monitoring an abdominal aneurysm. It is mainly used to detect gall stones and tumors. Problems of the liver such as jaundice, cirrhosis or fatty deposits can be evaluated with abdominal ultrasound. Enlarged spleen, pancreatis and blocked bile ducts can be diagnosed with an abdominal ultrasound. Extreme obesity and gas or other materials in the stomach or intestines can affect the accuracy of an abdominal ultrasound. An abdominal ultrasound can aid placement of needle or other instrument during biopsy. Any fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity can be detected.
Polyp
A polyp is an abnormal stalk-like growth on mucuous membrane. Typical areas where polyps are noticed are nose, cervix, small intestine, gallbladder, stomach, colon and bladder.
An endometrial polyp is found within the uterine cavity and is usually benign. Women suffering this type of polyps experience irregular menstrual bleeding, menorrhagia and pain. Endometrial polyps can be diagnosed with a hysteroscopy.
Colorectal polyps might lead to symptoms such as blood or mucus in stool, abdominal pain and diarrhea. They are diagnosed with a colonoscopy or barium meal X-rays.
Nasal polyps are usually treated with steroids to curtain their growth. Sometimes, they are surgically removed.
Colorectal polyps are nearly always removed and tested for cancer.
Cervical polyps are most often due to cervical inflammation. They might throw up symptoms such as vaginal bleeding in post-menopausal women, bleeding after sex or menorrhagia.
Gallbladder polyps most often show up during an abdominal ultrasound as they usually do not exhibit any symptoms.
Ultrasound
Ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that is also called ultrasound scanning or sonography. High frequency sound waves and their echoes and used in this technique for obtaining images from inside the human body. The echoes of sound waves reflected from the human body are recorded and displayed as a real-time visual image. This technique is similar to the echolocation used by bats, whales and dolphins. The sonar used by submarines also operates the same technique. Ultrasound is useful method to examine many of the body's internal organs like heart, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and bladder.
Movement of the internal tissues and organs are captured in ultrasound. Ultrasonography enables the physicians to diagnose a variety of disease conditions and also assess the damage caused to the systems.
The ultrasound machine transmits high frequency sound pulses into the human body by using probes. These sound waves that travel into the body hit a boundary between the tissues inside the body and reflect the sound waves to the probe. Some waves travel even further and they reach another boundary and then get reflected back. The waves that are reflected are picked up by the probe and relayed back into the ultrasound machine.
The ultrasound machine in turn calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or organ by using the speed of sound tissue and the time of each echo's return. The machine displays these distances and intensities of the echoes on the screen. Through the echoes that are produced the sonologist can identify how far away an object is, how large it is, its shape and consistency (fluid, solid or mixed). Two dimensional images are formed and reflected on the screen. Different types of ultrasound are used for different disease conditions. Ultrasound is used in a variety of clinical settings including obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection.
The abdominal ultrasound, pelvic ultrasound and transvaginal ultrasound are commonly used.
Bibliography / Reference
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