What Ultrasound Equipment Should be Used to Test for PKD?
Like Radar and Sonar, Ultrasound uses the echoes of sound waves to produce images. In the case of Ultrasound, these sound waves are transmitted through a transducer, and partially reflected back to the transducer by the body’s tissue. Human hearing is typically in the frequency range under 18,000 Hz (18 kHz). Bats and whales use frequencies in the range of 100 kHz. In contrast, Ultrasound uses frequencies above 1 MHz (1,000,000 Hz). The higher the frequency, the shorter the wave length, and the shorter the wave length, the greater the resolution of the image. However, longer wave lengths are able to penetrate deeper into the subject. Until very recently, 10 MHz was thought to be the upper limit of ultrasound in clinical applications, so most of the equipment in common use utilizes transducers in the 1.8 MHz to 10 MHz range, with many multi-frequency transducers available. In the last year or so, transducers up to 14 MHz have been released by most manufacturers, while 20 MHz transducers
