What is Sonography?
What is ultrasound now?
Applications of Sonography
Roles of the Sonographer
Outlook for the Sonographer
100
Different animals have different hearing frequencies. Bats, for example, hear at a frequency between 700Hz and 200kHz. What is the frequency humans hear at?
20Hz and 20kHz.
100
Many medical occupations have multiple ways to refer to their career path, or branching career paths. Name the five ways we describe the career of sonography today. (Hint: sonography is one of them)
Sonography, Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Ultrasound, and Ultrasonography.
100
There are many colleges across the US that are CAAHEP approved and provide students the greatest opportunities to succeed in a variety of specialties in ultrasound. These three tracts are the ones offered at HCC.
General/OBGYN, Vascular, and Echocardiography.
100
The most obvious role of the sonographer is the imaging component, but for the echocardiography and vascular students, they will also be calculating this in relation to the arteries, valves, and vents of the heart.
Hemodynamics.
100
One of the things Professor Robertson stressed in lecture was the ability to practice independent thinking in stressful or delicate situations. What would be the actions we need to take if we find a critical finding?
Leave the room, end the ultrasound, and notify the doctor immediately. Stress the urgency based on how severe it is.
(Can you think of a situation this would apply to? The only thing I can think of would be an aneurysm).
200
Ultrasound and the harnessing of sound frequencies and sound waves has enabled us to use them in a variety of ways. What are three non-medical and non-therapeutic uses of ultrasound?
Sonar, automatic door openers, and detection of flaws in metals.
200
The development of sonography has come about by the contributions of many inventors, scientists, physicians, and engineers; however, the earliest sonographers often were trained on the job. Describe who and where the earliest sonographers came from.
A variety of backgrounds, usually untrained, such as secretaries, file clerks, nurses, and anyone who was available with two hands.
200
While the General track encompasses many major organs in the abdomen as well as the nuances of the female reproductive organs, it may also consist of "small parts." What are three parts this includes?
Breasts, testes, and thyroid.
200
The day-to-day of the sonographer finds stability not in the patients, only in our teams and doctors. These are the types of coworkers we should expect to interact with on a daily basis.
Front desk staff, imaging staff, nuclear medicine technicians, CT staff, nurses, doctors, and more!
200
Sonographers follow the trail of breadcrumbs to find answers through looking at the big picture of what has been presented to them in a patient. What are the qualities and responsibilities in a sonographer that make this possible?
(Hint: what do investigators do when they pick up a trail?)
Sonographers have to be able to explore and interrogate beyond protocol, analyze each image, and be 3 steps ahead.
300
In both science and medicine, we define sound waves and their distinction based on what is audible to us. Describe the different between ultrasound and infrasound.
Ultrasound exceeds 20kHz whereas infrasound is sound less than 20Hz.
300
Is there a difference between ultrasound technicians, technologists, and sonographers?
Not in terms of pay or rank, and the terms are considered interchangeable.
300
Outside of the Big Three (Echo, OB/General, Vascular) there are many, many types of ultrasound we could find ourselves getting into. Name three out of the seven we went over in class, excluding the Big Three.
Neonatal
Intraoperative
Point of Care
MSK
Interventional/Therapeutic
Ophthalmology
Small Parts
300
When it comes to patients and their history, it's important to verbally confirm with them a variety of information. They may be unable to do so or unable to recall everything, so it's important to check their chart for these types of information.
Symptoms they experience, lab results to interpret, other diagnostic imaging (CT, X-ray, Nuc. Med, etc.), biopsies, and other history of issues that let them here.
300
Sonography is a complex and fascinating career path that is highly respected and impactful to the healthcare world. This, however, does put the pressure on the sonographer to be competent. What are some of the advantages of registration?
It provides:
Dedicated education
Credentials (ARDMS, RDCS, RVT, etc.)
Independence
Flexibility
New Opportunities to use Creativity and Dexterity
New Application and Learning Opportunities
400
Therapeutic uses of ultrasound are equally as non-invasive as diagnostic, but perform different functions. Name one of the uses of occupational therapy that utilizes ultrasound.
Deep heating.
400
Around what time in history did the Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics classify sonography as it's own individual occupation in the occupational handbook?
2002-2003.
400
As sonographers, we are extremely independent. We are under limited supervision, and spend most of our time scanning in rooms with just ourselves, our machine, and our patients. However, we are also a part of a greater team. These are some of the reasons why sonographers are an invaluable part of the health care team.
We act as the eyes of the physician.
We provide diagnostic information to the health care team.
We act as investigators for the patients to relay to the team.
We follow both hospital procedures and ultrasound procedures to make sure the patient receives the best care.
400
We wear many hats as sonographers: imaging expert, investigator, sound physicist, and more. Despite that, we all have one primary goal that tells a story of the tissues we are viewing. What is this goal?
Produce the highest quality of images!
400
Despite being a lucrative and growing occupation, there are some downsides that may scare people from entering the profession. Name some of the disadvantages.
Day-to-day may be overly stressful or demanding
Very technique-driven
May work with egotistical people
Lower staff = higher workload/chance of burnout
MSK/chronic stress injuries
Emotional fatigue/emotional toll very high
500
Why is diagnostic ultrasound is the most common and widely used form of ultrasound?
It utilizes sound waves to non-invasively create images of organs, structures, and vessels within the body.
500
Allied health encompasses a range of jobs, including sonography, that are outside of these three occupations.
Medicine, nursing, and pharmacy.
500
A new up-and-coming use of ultrasound has focused on MSK issues. What are some of the parts of the body we would take images of in this study?
Muscles, tendons, ligaments, sprains, tears, nerves, and joints.
500
On top of being able to safely and competently operate the ultrasound machines and communicate with our patients, sonographers also have to have a huge grasp of these three types of study of the human body.
Anatomy, physiology, and pathology.
500
What is this an image of? For bonus points, what does the red on the image mean (and what would it mean if it were blue)?
A blood vessel!
Red means that blood is moving towards the transducer, whereas blue means it is moving away from the transducer.