Ultrasound

[0:10]The heart of most ultrasound systems is a device called a transducer, which uses an array of piezoelectric crystals. A piezoelectric crystal vibrates when an electric signal is applied, producing high-frequency sound pressure waves, which we call ultrasound. More importantly, this type of crystal can also work in reverse. It can produce electrical signals when it detects high-frequency sound pressure waves. When a transducer directs ultrasound waves into the body, they pass right through the skin and into the internal anatomy. As the waves encounter tissues with different characteristics and densities, they produce echoes that reflect back to the piezoelectric crystal. This happens more than a thousand times a second. Returning echoes are converted to electric signals, which a computer converts into points of brightness on the image, corresponding to the anatomic position and the strength of the reflecting echoes. A medical transducer contains a large array of crystals, which allow it to make a series of image lines that together form a complete image frame called a sonogram. In addition, all the crystals are repeatedly activated many times in such a way that a complete image frame is formed around 20 times per second, so that real-time motion is displayed in the ultrasound image.