Ultrasound - Mayo Clinic Ultrasound is a valuable tool, but it has limitations Sound waves don't travel well through air or bone This means ultrasound isn't effective at imaging body parts that have gas in them or are hidden by bone, such as the lungs or head Ultrasound also may not be able to see objects that are located very deep in the human body
Abdominal ultrasound - Mayo Clinic An abdominal ultrasound is a medical imaging test that uses sound waves to see inside the belly area, also called the abdomen It's the preferred screening test for abdominal aortic aneurysm But the test may be used to diagnose or rule out many other health conditions
Doppler ultrasound: What is it used for? - Mayo Clinic Doppler ultrasound is a noninvasive test that can be used to measure the blood flow through your blood vessels It works by bouncing high-frequency sound waves off red blood cells that are circulating in the bloodstream A regular ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images, but can't show blood
Fetal ultrasound - Mayo Clinic Fetal ultrasound should only be done for medical reasons as part of prenatal care, based on the advice of a doctor or other licensed health care professional If you're getting ready for an ultrasound, check out the following images They'll give you an idea of what to expect and help you better understand what you see during the ultrasound
Echocardiogram - Mayo Clinic The ultrasound wand goes through the catheter and moves near the heart The wand gives off sound waves It records the sound waves that bounce back from the heart A computer changes the information into moving images The images are seen on a monitor A healthcare professional watches your oxygen level during the test Stress echocardiogram
Thyroid nodules - Diagnosis treatment - Mayo Clinic Ultrasound This test uses sound waves to make images of your thyroid gland A thyroid ultrasound shows the shape and structure of nodules Fine-needle aspiration biopsy A biopsy of nodules can make sure there's no cancer During the procedure, a healthcare professional puts a very thin needle in the nodule and removes a sample of cells
Ultrasound-guided transperineal prostate biopsy - Mayo Clinic Overview of ultrasound-guided transperineal prostate biopsies In transperineal biopsy, the urologist passes the biopsy needle through the perineal skin and into the prostate, rather than passing the biopsy needle through a potentially contaminated rectum The biopsy needle is still guided by an ultrasound placed in the rectum
Pelvic endometriosis: Ultrasound or MRI? - Mayo Clinic An MRI presents a global view of the pelvic region, while ultrasound is limited by what the transducer can reach However, specialized pelvic ultrasound can potentially help clarify involvement of deep endometriosis in some pelvic structures
Carotid ultrasound - Mayo Clinic Carotid (kuh-ROT-id) ultrasound is a procedure that uses sound waves to look at blood flow through the carotid arteries The carotid arteries are a pair of blood vessels on each side of the neck They deliver blood from the heart to the brain A carotid ultrasound also checks the thickness of the carotid artery wall and for blood clots
Gallstones - Diagnosis treatment - Mayo Clinic Abdominal ultrasound This test is the one most commonly used to look for signs of gallstones Abdominal ultrasound involves moving a device (transducer) back and forth across your stomach area The transducer sends signals to a computer, which creates images that show the structures in your abdomen Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)