What an ultrasound can detect? Can you see cancer in the abdomen with ultrasound?
What is ultrasound? It is one of the newer methods used to locate and measure solid tumors in the body. Ultrasound, or sonar, was used extensively during World War II for tracking submarines. Today it is used to clean teeth, age alcohol, and prospect for oil. It has been adapted for medical application and is a common technique for watching the heart in motion and for examining unborn babies. How does ultrasound scanning work? It works just like sonar. If a destroyer captain wants to locate a submarine, he sends bursts of sound through the water around him and waits for some of them to bounce off his target. By analyzing these echoes, he can tell where the submarine is and how large it is. An ultrasound technician, or sonographer, uses exactly the same principle. How is ultrasound scanning done? The technician presses a microphonelike probe across the patient's skin. This probe is called a transducer. The probe sends out sound waves at 1 million to 10 mil...