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Ultrasound

Ultrasound at Southview Vets

At Southview Veterinary Hospital we combine years of experience and expertise with state-of-the-art Ultrasound technology to provide the best care possible to our patients.

What happens in an ultrasound examination?

In an ultrasound examination, we gently press a small plastic probe to the surface of the skin. Within this probe is a densely packed array of crystals that have the incredible ability to convert electricity into sound waves and back again.

 

Every 1/50 of a second the probe sends out a pulse of ultrasonic sound, and then spends the other 49/50 of that second listening for echoes that return.

 

A very powerful computer interprets the strength of the echoes and the length of time it took for them to return, and converts this information into real-time images of the structure of our patients’ internal organs.

  • What are the advantages of ultrasound?
  • What is ultrasound used for at Southview?
  • Does ultrasonography require an anaesthetic?

What are the advantages of ultrasound?

  • It is painless
  • It is fast- we receive the information instantly
  • The images are real-time images that allow us to assess movement within the body. This is especially important in the heart (called echocardiology); and also, in the assessment of the intestines
  • It does not use radiation
  • It provides information about internal organs and their structure that other technologies simply cannot

What is ultrasound used for at Southview?

Over the years we have grown our expertise in the use of ultrasound to provide a long and continually expanding list of applications.

Ultrasound provides excellent images that are most commonly used to assess the structure and health of the liver, kidneys, spleen digestive tract and bladder.

FAST scanning techniques, are life-saving and pain-free examinations to assess potential internal organ damage in road traffic accident cases

Ultrasound is a powerful tool to monitor reproductive health and pregnancy diagnosis in breeding animals, including foetal health and development.

We use ultrasound for a wide variety of other applications including examination of the eye, assessing tendon and muscle injuries and detecting disease in the various hormone glands in the body.

Does ultrasonography require an anaesthetic?

Depending on the individual patient and their illness, sedation or anaesthesia may be required; however there are some instances when this is not necessary, something which will be discussed with an owner in full.

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