ultrasound
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008
ultrasound or sonography, in medicine, technique that uses sound waves to study and treat hard-to-reach body areas. In scanning with ultrasound, high-frequency sound waves are transmitted to the area of interest and the returning echoes recorded (for more detail, see ultrasonics ). First developed in World War II to locate submerged objects, the technique is now widely used in virtually every branch of medicine . In obstetrics it is used to study the age, sex, and level of development of the fetus and to determine the presence of birth defects or other potential problems. Its use to determine fetal sex has led to the widespread abortion of female fetuses in some countries, such as China and India, where male offspring are more highly valued. Ultrasound is used in cardiology to detect heart damage and in ophthalmology to detect retinal problems. It is also used to heat joints, relieving arthritic joint pain, and for such procedures as lithotripsy, in which shock waves break up kidney stones, eliminating the need for surgery. Ultrasound is noninvasive, involves no radiation, and avoids the possible hazards—such as bleeding, infection, or reactions to chemicals—of other diagnostic methods.
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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
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Sound waves that zapped away six years of pain
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Sound waves that zapped away six years of pain.
The Daily Mail (London, England); 7/29/2003; Halle, Martyn; 631 words
; Byline: MARTYN HALLE DOCTORS are pioneering the first non-invasive treatment for the painful fibroids that affect thousands of women. Radiologists melt away these benign growths in the womb by bombarding them with ultrasound waves. For the patient, there is no cutting or incision. She lies on her
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How sound waves melted my tumour.
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Sound waves at work. (includes related article on thermoacoustics)
Mechanical Engineering-CIME; 3/1/1998; Ashley, Steven; 3219 words
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Sound waves at work
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Rumbly in the tumbly. (Bulletins).("infrasound" sound waves for crowd control)(Brief Article)
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Sounding out buried land mines.(using sound waves and radar)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Global Design News; 9/1/2000; Peach, Matthew Bak, David; 204 words
; By using sound waves to create soil disturbances, and radar to measure the resulting movement, researchers at Atlanta's Georgia Institute of Technology are creating another tool for helping detect the world's estimated 100,000 buried weapons. Applicable to a broad range of soil and environmental
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