Abstract
The development of small, easy-to-operate ultrasonic imaging systems has led to the widespread use of ultrasound to visualize anatomic structures during clinical examinations and surgical procedures. These systems provide clinicians with high-definition, real-time images that facilitate transcutaneous, endoscopic, and intraoperative visualization and evaluation. To interpret ultrasonic images effectively and to apply the information they provide properly in the emergency room, endoscopic suite, or operating room, the clinician can benefit from an understanding of some of the basic physics of ultrasonography. This chapter briefly presents key principles of ultrasound that have a direct bearing on medical applications of ultrasound. More-comprehensive discussions of ultrasonic imaging are available in various other technical, scientific, and engineering publications.
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Acknowledgments
I thank Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins of Philadelphia, for their permission to base this chapter on a previously published chapter in Ultrasound for Surgeons, edited by Machi and Sigel and published by Igaku-Shoin of New York and Tokyo in 1997; Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins currently owns the copyright to Ultrasound for Surgeons. I also thank Roslyn Raskin for her invaluable assistance in preparing the manuscript, particularly for her meticulous proofreading. The prostate image of Fig. 13 was obtained in the course of research supported in part by NIH Grant R01CA135089 administered by the National Cancer Institute. The Doppler images of Fig. 19 were provided by Tina Nack, MPE, RVT, RDMS, Supervisor, Vascular Laboratory, Division of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University and the Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute in Philadelphia.
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Feleppa, E.J. (2015). Basic Physics of Diagnostic Ultrasound. In: Porter, C., Wolff, E. (eds) Prostate Ultrasound. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1948-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1948-2_4
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