• Question: How confusing is the ultrasounds to recognise

    Asked by anon-208933 to Gill on 7 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Gill Harrison

      Gill Harrison answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      Sorry HBCC, I think I saw this question today in the frenzy of trying to answer as many questions as I could. I’m glad you asked it on here:

      Simple answer is yes. It can be hard when you start to learn to scan to recognise normal structures.
      In time, you start to develop skills in pattern recognition, so that you know what normal looks like. The it becomes easier to see what is abnormal…and then the hard work begins, as you start to see more and more abnormal images you build up a ‘library’ of abnormal patterns in your head.

      There are still times though that we find things that we simply have no idea what they are (particularly if we have a new machine that can show us more than the last one). That’s when we usually refer the patient for a CT or MRI scan, to get more information.
      ULtrasound is a quick, painless imaging technique that does not use radiation, so we use it a lot to decide whether we can make a diagnosis or not. If not, we can rule out some things and refer the patient for other tests.

Comments