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Ultrasound is defined by the American National Standards Institute as "sound at frequencies greater than 20 kHz". In air at atmospheric pressure, ultrasonic waves have wavelengths of 1.9 cm or less. Ultrasound can be generated at very high frequencies; ultrasound is used for sonochemistry at frequencies up to multiple hundreds of kilohertz.
Ultrasound energy, simply known as ultrasound, is a type of mechanical energy called sound characterized by vibrating or moving particles within a medium. Ultrasound is distinguished by vibrations with a frequency greater than 20,000 Hz, compared to audible sounds that humans typically hear with frequencies between 20 and 20,000 Hz.
Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques (mainly imaging techniques) using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs, to measure some characteristics (e.g., distances and velocities) or to generate an informative audible sound.
Typical diagnostic ultrasound machines operate in the frequency range of 2-18 megahertz, whereas home ultrasound machines and therapeutic ultrasound machines operate in the frequency range of .7-3.3 megahertz. Diagnostic sonography is typically used to create an audio "image", such as during pregnancy to visualize the developing baby.
All modern ultrasound scanners use pulsed Doppler to measure velocity. Pulsed wave instruments transmit and receive series of pulses. The frequency shift of each pulse is ignored, however the relative phase changes of the pulses are used to obtain the frequency shift (since frequency is the rate of change of phase).
Ultrasound can ablate tumors or other tissue non-invasively. [4] This is accomplished using a technique known as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), also called focused ultrasound surgery. This procedure uses generally lower frequencies than medical diagnostic ultrasound (250–2000 kHz), but significantly higher time-averaged intensities.
These procedures generally use lower frequencies than medical diagnostic ultrasound (from 0.7 to 2 MHz), but higher the frequency means lower the focusing energy. HIFU treatment is often guided by MRI. Focused ultrasound may be used to dissolve kidney stones by lithotripsy. Ultrasound may be used for cataract treatment by phacoemulsification.
For frequencies of ultrasound from 25 to 50 kHz, a guideline of 110 dB had been recommended by Canada, Japan, the USSR, and the International Radiation Protection Agency, and 115 dB by Sweden [24] in the late 1970s to early 1980s, but these were primarily based on subjective effects. The more recent OSHA guidelines above are based on ACGIH ...