subject: Ultrasound's Different Applications Outside Of Pregnancy [print this page] "Sorrow for a husband is like a pain in the elbow, sharp and short."
- English proverb.
One of the enduring images during pregnancy is the image of a fetus in its mothers womb, seen in a sonogram. Movie scenes have been written, dialogs have been delivered, characters have been explored, all based on this sonogram that provides the first glimpse of the greatest miracle in the world - life.
This sonogram is a creation of the wonder that is ultrasound, sound waves at so high a frequency that they are beyond the range of human hearing. Although this limit varies widely from person to person, 20,000 hertz can be considered as the limit beyond which sound frequencies can be classified as ultrasound.
Besides the more famous application in diagnostic sonography during pregnancy, ultrasound is used for several other purposes. Here are some of them:
1. Medical
To break down kidney stones and gallstones into smaller fragments to permit them to pass out of the body.
Making tumors permeable to drugs in a technique known as elevated concentration focused ultrasound (HIFU).
Cleaning teeth in dental treatments.
Phacoemulsification or cataract surgery where internal lens of the eye is emulsified with an ultrasonic hand-piece, and aspirated from the eye.
To stimulate bone-growth and to unsettle the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery.
To support in the dismissal of body fat through the technique of liposuction.
To enhance the efficacy of antibiotics in killing bacteria.
To support administer medication in the formation of a haze inhaled into the lungs by using a nebulizer.
2. Industrial
To find flaws in materials and to measure the thickness of objects through non-invasive testing.
To better ethanol production by facilitating heat transfer in liquids.
To pure delicate and precious items like jewellery, lenses and other optical parts, watches, dental instruments, surgical instruments, diving regulators and industrial parts.
To identify and locate assets with a Real Time Locating System (RTLS) or Indoor Positioning System (IPS). Small emitters attached to assets transmit an ultrasound signal that is detected by acoustic sensors.
To produce heat by procedure of friction used in welding of plastics.
Used in the cattle industry to enhance animal health and the yield of cattle operations by determining fat thickness, rib eye area, and intramuscular fat in livestock.
3. Scientific
To accurately measure interval to a faraway thing for the purposes of surveying, determining concentration in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. The procedure is known as SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging).
To stimulate chemical difference through the phenomenon of cavitation, the generation of vapor bubbles of a flowing liquid in a zone where the pressure of the liquid falls underneath its vapor pressure. This field of study is called sonochemistry.
To measure fluid flow in fluid mechanics.
To generate little bursts of light through a phenomenon known as sonoluminescence that is being explored for its potential application in bubble fusion.
Therefore, the next time you notice the ultrasonic picture of a fetus, understand that the same technology is all around you, improving your quality of life.
by: Jim Knight
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
