Pelvic Ultrasound Health Article

Description

Ultrasound examinations can be done in a doctor's office, clinic, or hospital setting. Typically, the pregnant

woman will lie on an examination table with her abdomen exposed. Gel or oil is applied to the area. The doctor or technician will move a hand-held scanner (called a transducer) over the abdomen. The transducer emits high-frequency sound waves (usually in the range of 3.5–7.0 megahertz) into the abdomen. The waves are reflected back to the transducer and the wave patterns are shown as an image on a display screen. An ultrasound scan reveals the shapes, densities, and even movements of organs and tissues. Although the pictures transmitted by an ultra-sound scan appear gray and grainy, a trained technician can identify the fetus within the uterus, monitor its heartbeat, and sometimes determine its sex. Using computerized tools, the technician can measure various structures shown on the screen. For example, the length of the upper thigh bone (femur) or the distance between the two sides of the skull can indicate the age of the fetus.

Ultrasound technology has been used safely in medical settings for over 30 years, and several significant improvements have been made to the procedure. A specially designed transducer probe can be placed in the vagina to provide better ultrasound images. This trans-vaginal or endovaginal scan is particularly useful in early pregnancy or in cases where ectopic pregnancy is suspected. Doppler ultrasound uses enhanced sound waves to monitor subtle events, like the flow of fetal blood through the heart and arteries. Color imaging is a recent addition to ultrasound technology. With this process, color can be assigned to the various shades of gray for better visualization of subtle tissue details. A new technology under development is three-dimensional ultra-sound, which has the potential for detecting even very subtle fetal defects.