Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Ultrasound is sound with frequencies greater than 20 kilohertz. [1] This frequency is the approximate upper audible limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply to any frequency range, including ultrasound.
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.
The ultrasound probe emits a high-frequency sound wave (usually a multiple of 2 MHz) that bounces off various substances in the body. These echoes are detected by a sensor in the probe. In the case of blood in an artery, the echoes have different frequencies depending on the direction and speed of the blood because of the Doppler effect. [2]
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).
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 ...
This method of medical ultrasound therapy can be used for various types of pain relief and physical therapy. In physics, the term "ultrasound" [1] applies to all acoustic energy with a frequency above the audible range of human hearing. The audible range of sound is 20 hertz – 20 kilohertz. Ultrasound frequency is greater than 20 kilohertz.
The ultrasound equipment must be sufficiently high-quality to give a correct image-processing result, which can then provide invaluable information, mainly at the superficial level. It must be able to provide both color and Doppler imaging, technologies that developed alongside the development of ultrasound.