What is a duplex ultrasound?
Duplex ultrasound is a special technique which combines traditional ultrasound with Doppler ultrasound. Images of the solid object being examined – for example, the artery and the blood flowing through it – are displayed on a screen or monitor. The object is usually grey and the blood flow is usually in colour (colour Doppler).
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What is duplex ultrasound used for?
Duplex ultrasound is most commonly used to evaluate the blood flow in various arteries and veins in the body. The scan can help diagnose the following conditions:
- Widening of the main artery in the tummy (abdominal aneurysm).
- Blockage to an artery (an arterial occlusion).
- Blood clot.
- Blockage to the arteries in the neck (carotid occlusive disease).
- Renal duplex examines the kidneys and their blood vessels.
- Varicose veins.
- Venous insufficiency (a condition where veins have a problem sending blood back to the heart).
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What are the benefits of an ultrasound scan?
- Ultrasound scans involve no needles or injections and they are usually painless.
- They are less expensive than some other imaging methods
- It uses no ionizing radiation
- Gives a clear picture of soft tissues that would not normally show up well on X–Ray images.
- It doesn’t cause health problems and if medically indicated it can be repeated again.
- It has been used to evaluate pregnancy for nearly forty years. There has never been any evidence to suggest that there is harm to the patient, embryo or fetus.
- Doctors are provided with lots of useful information from the ultrasound
The Bad Side
Unfortunately, there are those as well. One of them is the so called “cavitation”. This mainly manifests through pain and burning sensation the patient feels during exposure. Namely, the gas in the nuclei of our tissue cells gets heated, thus causing this pain and discomfort or even nausea, breathing problems and disorientation.
We see that even though most doctors claim this therapy to be completely safe and recommended, there may be certain problems caused by it. Regardless, any overexposure to these sound frequencies may be dangerous. That being said, if pain and or kind of discomfort are felt during the ultrasound treatment, one should complain immediately and stop the treatment since the frequencies, if wrong, may cause permanent tissue damage and may even harm one’s nervous system.
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Furthermore, this therapy should not be applied over certain body parts or under some specific conditions. Pregnant women or women having their periods should not have their pelvic regions, their lower abdomen or back exposed to ultrasound treatment. Also, our eyes, sex organs or female breasts are not suitable for this treatment. Ultrasound frequencies should not be applied over certain bone fracture, skin wounds or malignant tumors of any sorts. Additionally, people with pacemakers or breast implants should avoid ultrasound as well.
Finally, even though the ultrasound treatment has proven to be quite effective, some still doubt it’s worthiness claiming that it does nothing that other similar treatments involving heat or stretching could not do. There have also been cases of diverse efficiency, where the therapy worked on some people, while on others it did not.
The most important thing is that it can and is beneficial and life-saving in some cases. Nevertheless, one should bear in mind all the negative sides of it and be careful, using only the best the ultrasound treatment has to offer.
Is Ultrasound During Pregnancy Safe?
Ultrasound done during 16-20 weeks of pregnancy, is a diagnostic test which creates a visual effect of the baby, placenta and uterus. It is basically a high frequency sound wave inaudible to the human ear. The sound waves passes through the uterus and the computer then translates the echoing sound into images of the baby shape. It is done to check the baby heartbeat, baby position, the position of the placenta, to ensure the wellbeing of the baby. However, according to some researchers and study, regular ultrasound during pregnancy has side effects which directly effects the health of the child. One of the most prevalent side effects of ultrasound during pregnancy is the risk of faulty brain development. 2005 medical textbook Doppler Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, notes down the two aspects which might lead to side effects of ultrasound during pregnancy. The two effects are Thermal Effect and Mechanical Effect. Thermal Effects – When the ultrasound waves penetrate into the system it passes through body tissues, which leads to a lot of energy being absorbed by the body, which converts into heat and results in increased body temperature. This rise in temperature is caused due to friction forces of the tissues. The temperature may rise to 2 degree centigrade. This puts the embryo and fetal tissues at the risk of thermal injury. The elevated temperature can cause birth defects by effecting the development of the embryo and the fetal. Mechanical effects – During the Ultrasound process, the formation of microscopic bubbles in the tissues have been noticed, which once created do implode. This cavitation and the process of bubble implosion the temperature increases and exceeds to 5,000 degree Celsius. This bubble collapses and the increase in the body temperature leads to cell destruction and some studies have proved that it causes lung and kidney injuries. The side effects of Ultrasound during pregnancy do not undermine the importance of it. It is needed to ensure the health of the child and for proper medication at the right time but the ways to prevent these side effects would be to to minimizing the number of times of the scan and also by keeping the power level as low as possible. Vote this article
Warning
- According to the Radiological Society of North America, ultrasound therapy has been found to be “a safe, effective, and highly flexible imaging modality capable of providing clinically relevant information about most parts of the body in a rapid and cost-effective fashion.” That being said, if any session of ultrasound therapy causes physical discomfort, ask that it be stopped immediately. Prolonged exposure to maladjusted frequencies can cause serious tissue and neurological damage. Dizziness or disorientation are symptoms of overexposure to ultrasonic frequencies.
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Image courtesy : ultrasoundnow.co.uk , docstoccdn.com , portable-ultrasound-scanner.com , uscollegesearch.org ,
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