ULTRASOUND Flashcards
consists of many components, each of which has a separate operation to perform. This starts with transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals which are then processed to form the images that we see on screen.
diagnostic ultrasound machine
The internal components that make up a typical ultrasound machine are the following:
- Transducer
- Pulser
- Beam former
- Receiver
- Processor
- Display
- Digital storage
- Hard copy printer devices
Diagnostic transducers are made from __
piezoelectric materials
As a consequence of this they can act as a transmitter and receiver of ultrasound. They are able to produce beams which can be directed in various ways which are controlled by the ultrasound machine to improve image quality.
Transducer
materials and are able to convert electrical energy into ultrasound energy and vice versa.
Transducer
Changes in the applied __ to the transducer changes the strength and intensity of the ultrasound beam, and affects the overall brightness of the B-mode image.
voltage
The ___ produces the electric voltage that drives the transducer. This driving voltage governs the output power of the ultrasound machine and can be adjusted by the operator through the power or output control
pulser
Increasing the applied voltage to the transducer increases the ultrasound pulse intensity, resulting in an increase in the overall ___ of the image.
brightness
The greater the applied voltage, the stronger the ultrasound pulse and the higher the __
pulse intensity
The ___ controls the shape and direction of the ultrasound beam and the scanning patterns used to form the images that we see.
beam former
As a consequence of attenuation the returning echo amplitudes and intensities are___
decreased
beam former: this enables the operator to have indirect control of:
- depth
- focus
- sector width
- zoom
job is to to combat attenuation, i.e. the energy lost from the beam a sit propagates through soft tissue.
Receiver
energy is lost from the beam through absorption which is mainly converted into __
heat.
The ultrasound machine can compensate for the effects of attenuation by amplifying the received signals in two ways, using the ___ and __
overall gain and the time-gain compensation (TGC) controls.
The processor can be divided into two individual parts, each having very different tasks to fulfil, and consists of:
signal processor and image processor
converts echo voltages to video signals
signal processor
formats the many scan line data into image form.
image processor
cleans up the signal, removing unwanted noise, and also controls the signal bandwidth
Filtering in Processor
performs a process of demodulation which means it converts the received signal voltages into video form, retaining the amplitude information required for B-mode imaging
Amplitude detection in Processor
controls the dynamic range of the B-mode image (the number of shades of gray displayed in the image)
Compression in Processor
Once the signals have passed through the signal processor they are fed into the ___
image processor