BASIC ULTRASOUND
S.N.Kaale
MscRAD,B.TECH,PGC,DDR
Part 1
INTRODUCTION TO SOUND AND
ULTRASOUND
What is sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that
propagates as an acoustic wave, through a
transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or
solid.
Sound is produced when something vibrates.
The vibrating body causes the medium
(water, air, etc.) around it to vibrate.
Vibrations in air are called traveling
longitudinal waves, which we can hear.
Sound waves consist of areas of high and low
pressure called compressions and
rarefactions, respectively
Sound wave can be described by five
characteristics: Wavelength, Amplitude,
Time-Period, Frequency and Velocity or
Speed. The minimum distance in which a
sound wave repeats itself is called its
wavelength.
There are two types of waves: Longitudinal
waves and Transverse waves.
Longitudinal Waves: A wave in which the
particles of the medium vibrate back and
forth in the 'same direction' in which the wave
is moving.
Medium can be solid, liquid or gases.
Therefore, sound waves are longitudinal
waves
Transverse Waves - Transverse waves move
with oscillations that are perpendicular to the
direction of the wave.
Sound waves are not transverse waves
because their oscillations are parallel to the
direction of the energy transport.
Among the most common examples of
transverse waves are ocean waves
What is ultrasound
•Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher
than the upper audible limit of human hearing.
•Ultrasound is used in many different fields.
Ultrasonic devices are used to detect objects and
measure distances.
•Ultrasound imaging or sonography is often used in
medicine
Diagnostic ultrasound, also called
sonography or diagnostic medical
sonography, is an imaging method that uses
high-frequency sound waves to produce
images of structures within human body.
The images can provide valuable information
for diagnosing and treating a variety of
diseases and conditions
Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible)
sound in its physical properties, except that
humans cannot hear it.
This limit varies from person to person and is
approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000 hertz) in
healthy young adults. Ultrasound devices operate
with frequencies from 20 kHz up to several
gigahertz
Ultrasound is sound that travels through soft tissue
and fluids, but it bounces back, or echoes, off
denser surfaces. This is how it creates an image.
The characteristics of ultrasound, such as
frequency and intensity, are wave properties
common to all types of waves.
Ultrasound also has a wavelength that limits the
fineness of detail it can detect. This characteristic
is true of all waves.
Sound is a physical phenomenon that transfers
energy from one point to another.
In this respect, it is similar to radiation. It differs
from radiation, however, in that sound can pass
only through matter and not through a vacuum as
radiation can.
This is because sound waves are actually
vibrations passing through a material. If there is
no material, nothing can vibrate and sound cannot
exist
The reflected sound waves produce the
ultrasound image.
The more sound waves are reflected, the more
hyperechogenic (= whiter) the tissue is imaged.
With reduced reflection, the image will be more
hypoechogenic, and anechogenic if there is no
reflection (= black)
Hyperechogenic/Anechogenic
An ultrasound is a tool used to take a picture.
A sonogram is the picture that the
ultrasound generates.
Sonography is the use of an ultrasound tool
for diagnostic purposes.
Basic terminologies as applied in
general ultrasound imaging
The amplitude of an ultrasound wave refers to
the strength of the signal and is measured in
decibels (dB).
In audible sound, amplitude is analogous to
“loudness.”
One of the most significant characteristics of
sound is its frequency, which is the rate at
which the sound source and the material
vibrate.
Thefrequency of sound is measured as cycles
per second or Hertz (Hz). Sound audible to the
human ear is in the range of 20 Hz to20 kHz.
Sound frequencies above the audible range
are referred to as ultrasound. Pitch is a term
commonly used as a synonym for frequency
of sound.
Therange for diagnostic ultrasound is
between 1 and 20 mega (million) Hertz
(MHz).
Wavelength can be defined as the distance
between two successive crests or troughs of a
wave.
Wavelength is the distance from one crest to
another, or from one trough to another, of a wave
(which may be an electromagnetic wave, a sound
wave, or any other wave).
The shorter the wavelength, the more cycles per
second, the greater the frequency of the wave.
Velocity (of sound):Is the speed at which a sound
wave is traveling.
In soft tissue at 37 degrees C. sound travels at
1540 m/second
The velocity of an ultrasound wave is proportional
to the density of the tissue it travels through.
The velocity through a low-density medium, such
as air (330 m/s) is much less than the speed of
propagation through a higher density medium
such as liver (1,550 m/s).
The clinical implications of this are simple:
ultrasound does not transmit well through air.
Hence, optimizing an ultrasound image involves
positioning the patient and the transducer to avoid
air filled structures such as lung tissue or bowel.
Most of the soft tissues in the human body as
well as blood have similar densities and
therefore a similar propagation speed is of an
average of 1,540 m/s.
Intensity
Intensity is the rate at which power passes
through a specified area.
It is the amount of power per unit area and is
expressed in the units of watts per square
centimeter.
Intensity is the rate at which ultrasound energy is
applied to a specific tissue location within the
patient's body.
It is the quantity that must be considered with
respect to producing biological effects and safety.
The intensity of most diagnostic ultrasound beams
at the transducer surface is on the order of a few
milliwatts per square centimeter.
Reflection
The reflection of ultrasound pulses by
structures within the body is the interaction
that creates the ultrasound image.
The reflection of an ultrasound pulse occurs
at the interface, or boundary, between two
dissimilar materials,
Refraction
When an ultrasound pulse passes through
an interface at a relatively small angle
(between the beam direction and interface
surface), the penetrating pulse direction will
be shifted by the refraction process.
refraction
Ultrasound waves are only refracted at a different
medium interface of different acoustic impedance.
Refraction allows enhanced image quality by
using acoustic lenses.
Refraction can result in ultrasound double-image
artifacts.
During attenuation the ultrasound wave stays on
the same path and is not deflected.
Absorption: This is the major cause of attenuation.
Absorption occurs when ultrasound energy is lost
to tissues by its conversion to heat. Higher
frequency waves undergo greater absorption
Attenuation: The process that occurs as a sound
wave travels through a medium; it loses energy,
and as a result, its intensity and amplitude
decrease, and it becomes attenuated.
