Ultrasound
An ultrasound scan, also known as sonogram, uses high-frequency sound waves to create real-time images.
This imaging technique does not use radiation and is convenient, painless, non-invasive and yields quick results.
UC San Diego Health’s ultrasound team provides high-resolution diagnostic ultrasound exams of the abdomen and pelvis, as well as neck, scrotum and extremities. Our clinicians are registered diagnostic medical sonographers and vascular technologists, accredited by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in abdominal, obstetrical and gynecological ultrasound.
Common uses for ultrasound include:
- Diagnosing heart disease and assessing damage following a heart attack
- Monitoring fetal development (See the Maternal-Fetal Care and Genetics.)
- Guiding needle biopsies
- Assessing blood flow
- Evaluating internal organ function
- Assessing swelling, pain and infection
Ultrasound Procedures
The types of ultrasound procedures we perform include:
- Abdominal
- Arterial/Graft
- Carotids
- Contrast enhanced
- Non-invasive vascular examinations
- Obstetrical
- Pelvic
- Prostate
- Renal
- Scrotal
- Thyroid
- Transplant (renal/hepatic/pancreatic)
- Venus
- 3D Ultrasound
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound
UC San Diego Health offers contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for patients who can benefit from the advanced imaging approach.
What Is CEUS?
It’s a type of specialized ultrasound that uses microbubbles to light up areas of interest. The lungs exhale the tiny bubbles.
Benefits
- No exposure to ionizing (high-energy) radiation
- High-resolution imaging in real-time, not just snapshots in time
- Safe and nontoxic, including for patients with kidney or liver disease, claustrophobia or allergies to computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents
- A problem-solving approach when CT and MRI scans do not converge on a single diagnosis
Radiologists
Locations
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