Ultrasound Services are available at:
How Ultrasound Works
The procedure sends a stream of high-frequency sound waves into the body and detects their echoes as they bounce off internal objects. The sound waves are converted to form an image displayed on a computer monitor.
Doppler ultrasound is a special type of ultrasound that evaluates blood velocity as it flows through a blood vessel.
Ultrasound help diagnose many conditions, such as:
- Heart and blood vessel disease
- Appendicitis
- Bladder conditions such as incontinence
- Pancreatitis
- Liver disease
- Gallstones
- Spleen conditions
- Kidney problems
- Menstrual disorders
- Prostate problems
- Eye disorders
- Conditions affecting the thyroid and parathyroid glands
Ultrasound also can be used to:
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Check the size, location, number and age of a fetus or fetuses; the presence of some types of birth defects, fetal movement and heartbeat
- Diagnose bone fractures
- Guide a needle during a biopsy
How to Prepare
Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing. You might need to remove some or all of your clothing and wear a gown. You might also need to remove jewelry.
Tell you doctor if you have had a test involving barium within the past two days. Barium that remains in the intestines can interfere with the ultrasound test.
Other preparation depends upon the type of examination you will have. For some scans, your doctor might instruct you to not eat or drink for as many as 12 hours before your appointment. For others, you could be asked to drink up to six glasses of water two hours prior to your exam and avoid urinating so that your bladder is full when the scan begins.
What the Exam Is Like
For most ultrasound exams, you lie on an examination table that can be tilted or moved. A clear, water-based gel is applied to the area of the body being studied to help a small hand-held device called the transducer make firm contact with the body. The transducer is moved back and forth over the area of interest.
For some ultrasound exams, the transducer is attached to a probe and inserted into a natural opening in the body, such as the mouth, rectum or vagina.
An ultrasound exam generally takes 30 minutes. Because the images are in real-time, you can usually leave immediately after the exam rather than waiting until the images are reviewed.
A radiologist will analyze the images and send a report to your physician, who will share the results with you.
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)
Endoscopic ultrasound is a procedure in which an endoscope (a thin, tube-like instrument with a light and a lens for viewing) is inserted into the body. The endoscope has a probe at the end, which bounces high-energy sound waves or ultrasound off internal organs, creating a picture for review.
About Your Bill
You will receive two bills for your exam:
- The hospital bill includes the cost to cover equipment, supplies and technical personnel
- The radiologist’s bill covers the professional reading of your exam