Ultrasound / sonography

Ultrasound/sonography

Ultrasound, also called sonography, is based on ultrasonic frequencies and can be used to examine organs (e.g., abdominal organs, heart), joints, blood vessels and soft tissue (e.g., muscles, skin, breast).

When is ultrasound/sonography indicated?

Ultrasound examinations are, in addition to basic diagnostics, suitable to answer specific medical questions and to be used as follow-up examinations in case of known diseases. It depends on the examiner what kind of ultrasound examinations are possible. Thus, specialists (e.g., radiology, cardiology, internal medicine, gynecology) perform ultrasound scans at Beta Klinik.

How is ultrasound/sonography performed?

During a sonography or so-called ultrasound examination, a contact gel is put on the area to be examined and a probe. This probe is placed onto the skin and sends ultrasound waves being reflected from the borders of different body tissues. Information on these tissues are detected by the ultrasound device and reconstructed. This way, an image for diagnostic purposes is created.

Ultrasound/sonography compared to other diagnostic procedures

Ultrasound examinations are universally used from the unborn live previous to birth up to the adult. It is a crucial diagnostic procedure in pediatric radiology.

Advantages of ultrasound/sonography

An important advantage of an ultrasound over an X-ray examination is its harmless technology based on ultrasound frequencies, which makes it possible to examine even the very sensitive un- and newborn children.

Contraindications of ultrasound/sonography

There are not contraindications, which means reasons not to use ultrasound technology. But bones and gas-containing organs (intestine, lung) are difficult to examine. Because the depth ultrasound can reach is limited, a certain degree of obesity can interfere with this examination technique.