Focused—Basic Ultrasound Principles and Artifacts

turn on the machine. Apply coupling gel. Start scanning. In the realm of the busy veterinary general practice, emergency clinic, or intensive care unit, that statement really sums up the basic use of ultrasound. Just as natural as it is for us to take the stethoscope from around our neck and place it on a patient’s thorax, so should be picking up the ultrasound probe and placing it on the patient. no wonder that ultrasonography has been appropriately dubbed both “an extension of the physical exam” and the “modern stethoscope” (Rozycki 2001; Filly 1988). Really, one doesn’t need a whole lot of instruction to start scanning; however, as for a lot of things in life, the devil is in the details. Proper imaging technique and understanding its limitations are the keys to accurate image interpretation of diagnostic ultrasound. the focus of this chapter is a fairly brief review of the basic physics and principles of ultrasound including the more common problematic artifacts. For interested readers, there are more comprehensive textbooks dedicated to the physics and interpretation of ultrasound imaging (nyland 2002; Penninck 2002).