Ultrasound Flashcards
how is ultrasound used in RT
- as a diagnostic tool
- image guidance
- interfraction motion estimation in prostate and breast
- gynaecological application, placement of brachytherapy
- localisation tool (eg. ovaries)
initial diagnosis of what tumours are ultrasound used
liver
pancreas
kidney
breast
prostate
electromagnetic waves
- travel at the speed of light
- no medium is required for propagation
- distinguished by energy, frequency and wavelength
- eg. light and x-rays are electromagnetic waves
mechanical waves
- defined as the propagation of energy through a medium by cyclic pressure variations
- need deformable elastic medium for propagation (such as air, water, soft tissue)
- ultrasound propagates by mechanical waves
two types of mechanical waves
- transverse
- the particle motion in the medium is 90 degrees to the direction of the wave
- longitudinal waves
- the particle motion in the medium is in the same plane as the direction of the wave
pulse echo sequence
- once a pulse has been sent into tissue, the transducer is set to receive mode
- the returned echo is converted into an electrical voltage
- the time from pulse transmission to echo receive can be accurately measured, ant this is used to calculate the interface depth
interface depth formula
d=vt/2
d is the depth of reflector (in m)
v is the velocity of sound (1540 m.s.)
t is the roundtrip time of the pulse
different transducer types
- curvilinear
- very good for abdominal structures + obsetrics
- linear array
- used in vascular (arteries and veins), lens and retina, musculoskeletal
- intracavity
- gynae, uterus and ovaries
- phased array
- cardiac
what are the different directions the transducer can move in
in 3 planes - X, Y and Z plane
X plane = sweep and fan
Y plane = slide and rock
Z plane = compression and rotation
what are the 4 different types of resolution
spatial
contrast
temporal
colour
what is resolution
the degree of detail that structures can be seen on images
spatial resolution
the ability to differentiate small structures on a B mode image
two types of spatial resolution
axial and lateral
what affects spatial resolution
beam characteristics
line density (which affects lateral resolution
resolution of the viewing monitor
axial resolution
the closest distance between two structures can be along the beam axis and is differentiated as two entities