An ultrasound is a type of scan that uses sound waves to produce images of structures inside your body. It’s used to detect changes in appearance, size and outline of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and fluid.
An ultrasound scanner looks similar to a computer. The hand held scanner has a transducer that sends out sound waves. A transducer is a device that changes sound to electricity, like a two-way microphone. The sound waves bounce off the structures inside your body and are then picked up again by the transducer. The transducer is linked to a computer which creates real-time images from these reflected sound waves. The images are displayed on the screen and are constantly updated so the scan can show movement.
Musculoskeletal ultrasound has come a long way over the past 30 years due to improved image quality. Consequently, musculoskeletal ultrasound has been rapidly growing in popularity. This is due to increasing evidence‐based literature stating that the diagnostic accuracy of musculoskeletal sonography is comparable to that of MRI.
What conditions can be diagnosed on a Ultrasound Scan?