Ultrasound

The use of Ultrasound is growing in veterinary as well as medical practice. Most people are aware of the use of ultrasound in monitoring the developement of human babies in the womb, but it has many more and varied applications.

Ultrasound scanners have improved rapidly over the years, and our new scanner is equipped with some of the latest technology, including colour doppler to enable measurement of blood flow in arteries and veins.

Benefits

The most obvious benefit of ultrasound is the ability to see moving images of the inside of the body without the need for anaesthesia or, in many cases, even sedation. Ultrasound is extremely safe and can provide images of some organs which are far superior to other mediums such as X-rays. For instance we can get an image of the texture and structure of the liver which is not possible on X-ray. In the picture you can clearly see the gall bladder as a round black cavity in the liver. We can also use ultrasound, in some circumstances, to perform guided biopsies of internal organs or to measure the flow of blood through a defective heart valve.

Drawbacks

Gas is the great enemy of ultrasound, and so examination of the lungs is much better carried out by X-ray. Similarly, some intestinal conditions result in a build up of gas in the bowel making ultrasound examination difficult if not impossible.

Radiography (X-rays) and ultrasound are complimentary, neither one replacing the other. In many cases it is beneficial to have both types of image available.

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