Your doctor may ask you to undergo an ultrasound scan for examining a particular part of your body and decide the further treatment procedures. Before you for this scan, it would be good for you to know about the common types of ultrasound scans available and their uses, as the knowledge can help you prepare better for your scan.
Commonly used ultrasound processes today
It would be an exhaustive list if we try to mention all the different types of ultrasound scans and how they are used in this article. So, we bring to you a short list of the most commonly used ultrasound processes in various parts of the world here:
- Abdominal ultrasound
This process examines your abdomen and its internal organs like the liver, pancreas, gallbladder and more.
- Breast Ultrasound
Women are advised to go for a breast ultrasound to check for abnormalities in the lungs like lumps, dense tissues and other symptoms of breast cancer.
- Obstetric Ultrasound
Also known as the pregnancy ultrasound, this is done regularly on pregnant women to check the development of the fetus.
- Female pelvis Ultrasound
This is can be done as an internal transvaginal process, where the transducer is fixed in the vagina or as an external pelvic ultrasound process. In this external process, a thorough examination is conducted on the female pelvis, uterus, fallopian tubes and other related organs.
- Renal Ultrasound
In this process, a thorough scan is conducted in the urinary tract, and the organs in this part of the body, such as the kidneys and the urinary bladder.
- Transrectal Ultrasound
You may be asked to undergo a transrectal ultrasound if your doctor wants a clear image of your prostate gland and detect issues like prostate cancer in the early stages.
- Doppler Ultrasound
The Doppler Ultrasound is conducted to check the quality of blood flow in the important arteries and veins in your body. Usually, elders and people finding problems with mobility are advised to go for this scan.
- Carotid Ultrasound
The Doppler ultrasound is a part of the carotid ultrasound process. Here, the sound waves help to obtain images of the carotid arteries in the neck. These arteries are the ones that transport blood from the heart to the brain. The test is conducted to check blockages or other issues in these arteries.
- Echocardiogram
This studies the pattern of the heartbeat, and checks for irregularities if any, so that timely action can be taken.
- Endoscopic Ultrasound
Here, the doctors perform an endoscopy, in which a tube is inserted into your body to get a clear picture of the internal organs of the chest, abdomen and other organs in the upper respiratory tract and digestive system.
- Sonohysterography
This is a process where sound waves are used to get clear and detailed images of the innermost parts of the uterus. Doctors advise you to go for this scan for issues like repeated miscarriages, vaginal bleeding, infertility issues and the like.
- Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
This scan is done to study the functioning of your muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and joints. This scan helps to diagnose the problem correctly when you suffer ligament tears, sprains, muscle tears and other musculoskeletal problems.
- Thyroid Ultrasound
This scan is done to get a clear picture of the thyroid gland present in your neck. The scan helps to identify abnormalities like lumps or nodules in this gland.
Apart from these, you will find high-quality 3D/4D ultrasound in Bangalore and other parts of the world. These give you three dimensional and four dimensional images of the internal organs, which help the doctors to get a clear picture of the issues, if any.