When people hear the word ultrasound, pregnancy often comes to mind first. However, ultrasound technology can also be used to examine the heart. This examination is called echocardiography. The attached reference describes echocardiography as the use of ultrasound to examine the heart and states that it is safe, does not involve a procedure entering the body, and is an important diagnostic tool for different heart conditions.

How does it work? The examination device sends ultrasound waves into the body. When the waves reach a boundary between different tissues, some of the sound is reflected back. These returning echoes are received by the device, changed into electrical signals, and processed into images that can be viewed on a screen.

Echocardiography can show the heart from several directions. Depending on the viewing position, the images can display heart chambers, heart walls, valves, parts of the large blood vessels, and other visible structures. In one commonly used view, all four heart chambers can be seen at the same time.

To obtain different pictures, the device can be placed in several positions around the chest. Each position creates a different view of the heart. This allows different structures to appear on the screen, including chambers, valves, walls, the aorta, and pathways leading out of the heart.

Two-dimensional images are formed from returning ultrasound echoes collected in sequence, creating moving pictures of the heart. The reference also explains that some display modes are useful for showing movement in heart structures such as valves and chamber walls. Technology has also developed to allow real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.

The main benefit is simple: echocardiography helps show the structure and movement of the heart from different angles without an invasive procedure.

#sahabatpramita, ultrasound is not only for pregnancy. It can also be used to examine the heart through echocardiography.