What is Ultrasound/ Doppler?
Ultrasound imaging, involves using a small (probe) and ultrasound gel to expose the body to high -Frequency sound waves. Ultrasound is safe, painless and less expensive producing pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound examinations do not use Ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays) so any patient can use it safely without fearing of the hazards of the radiations.

Ultrasound images can show the structure and movement of the body's internal organs, As well as blood flowing through blood vessels.
Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, flat sections of the body. Now, advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound (that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images), four-dimensional (4-D) ultrasound (is 3-D ultrasound in motion).
Doppler ultrasound is a special ultrasound technique that evaluates blood flow through a blood vessel, including the body's major arteries and veins in the abdomen, Arms, legs and neck.

Why should I do it?
Ultrasound is a useful way for examining many of the body's internal organs, including:

• Liver
• Gallbladder
• Spleen
• Pancreas
• Kidneys
• Bladder
• Uterus, ovaries, and unborn child (fetus) in pregnant women.
• Heart and blood vessels, including the abdominal aorta and its major branches
• Thyroid and parathyroid glands
• Scrotum (testicles)
• Brain in infants
• Hips in infants

Ultrasound is also used to:

• Guide procedures in needle biopsies, used to extract sample cells from an abnormal area for laboratory testing.
• Image the breasts and to guide biopsy of breast cancer (see the Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy page(.
• Diagnose a variety of heart conditions and for diagnosing valvular heart diseases.

Doppler ultrasound images can help the physician to see and evaluate:

• Blockages to blood flow (such as clots).
• Narrowing of vessels.
• Tumors and congenital vascular malformation.

Any preparations needed?

• It is preferable to wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing.
• You may need to remove all clothing and jewelry in the interested area to be examined.
• Other preparations depend on the type of examination you will have. For some scans your doctor may instruct you not to eat or drink for a while before your examination. For others you may be asked to drink a lot of water and avoid urinating so that your Bladder is full when the scan begins.
• In case of children, ultrasound examinations are very sensitive to motion, and an active or crying child will slow the examination process, so it is better to explain the procedure to the child prior to the exam.

Abdomen Ultrasound

• For a study of the abdominal organs, you may be asked to eat a fat-free meal on the evening before the test and then to avoid eating for 6 hours before the test.

Pelvic Ultrasound

• You need to drink plenty of water and avoid voiding for one hour before the test.

Vascular Ultrasound

• If your abdominal vessels are being examined, it is often best to fast before the procedure, unless the examination is performed on an urgent basis.

Venous

• You may be asked not to ingest any food or fluids except water for six hours ahead of time.

Prostate

• An enema may be taken two to four hours before the ultrasound to clean out the bowel.