What Is Sonography, and How Is It Being Used in the Healthcare Field?
Developed in World War II to locate submerged objects, sonography (also called ultrasound) was first used in medicine to take an inside look at prenatal development in the early 1970s. Since then, sonography has moved into multiple areas of healthcare in and it is utilized in both a diagnostic and therapeutic capacity. Sonography is a painless medical procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to produce visual images of organs, tissues, or blood flow inside the body. Depending on the situation, sonography may be used to examine the abdomen, breasts, prostate, female reproductive organs, heart, blood vessels, and other areas. In obstetrics, sonography is used to determine the number, age, and location of a fetus, as well as to check for potential birth defects. It is also used to identify abnormalities in the abdomen, such as liver disease or gallstones. Sonograms can also be used to detect heart disease. And therapeutically, sonography is often used to speed healing of injured mus
