Question: If ultrasounds are useful at the minute, how much potential do you think they have to lend themselves with possibilities in the future?

Gill Harrison answered on 6 Mar 2019:

That’s another interesting question that I don’t really know. In my career things have developed at an amazing speed. I predict that there will be much more fusion of imaging that is already in place, so for example and MRI scan would be overlaid with ultrasound, so that you have the benefits of amazing image quality of an MRI scan with the ability to see in real time with ultrasound. This can help place needles in the correct place to take samples of tissue or inject pain relief.

I think artificial intelligence will make a massive difference to who and how we work. There is a lot of work looking at machine learning to do the basic work of a sonographer, which would mean the role changes and we maybe have more time to spend explaining things to patients, reviewing the results from the machines, analysing how this fits best into the patient pathway and helping them to get even quicker, more personalised treatment. Robotics will also be used, saving the sonographer from getting injuries from repetitive movements.

It’s a really exciting time for imaging (and science in general), so I’m looking forward to seeing things that maybe I can’t even begin to imagine at this stage!