Portable Ultrasound Machines for Fast and Non-Invasive Diagnosing and Therapy
A portable ultrasound machine is used for diagnostic medical imaging to visualize many internal organs, tendons and muscles. It captures their size and structure, as well as pathological lesions with real-time images.
Ultrasound had become widely used since 1980s, and since that time its bulk and cost were greatly limited to be used in hospitals. In ten years (1990s) there was offered a portable machine that weighed less than 6 pounds. As for today, the units are very lightweight, can withstand various abusive environmental conditions, and provide images of the highest quality.
Portable units become more and more popular. They get smaller, more adaptable and much better. So, the ultrasound market offers a huge variety of portable devices of different types, options, additional features, as well as from different manufacturers.
So, what are the purposes these machines serve? A portable ultrasound machine can be used for cardiac, obstetric or veterinary procedures or during the treatment of chronic pain and injuries. While buying it’s highly important to consider three main factors:
- reliability
- manufacturer
- budget
It is also important to determine how the machine is going to be used and for how long you’d like to have it. The cost of this device depends on the type and brand.
Portable Diagnostic Ultrasound Machine
What’s a portable diagnostic machine? This is a medical imaging device that is helpful in identifying numerous medical problems in any person and any body part. The greatest benefit of the procedure is the fact it is a non-invasive one, so it is absolutely safe.
In addition to the basic features many units also offer:
- full color flow
- fluid-resistant case
- touch screen interfaces
- turbo processing power
- superficial imaging
This portable ultrasound emits high-frequency sound waves via a transducer and through the body. There is a scanner inside the transducer. It receives the reflected sound waves that are later converted by the machine’s central processing unit into 3/ 4-dimentional images, which are displayed on a monitor.
Portable Therapeutic Ultrasound Machine
Over the past few years the ultrasound therapy became very popular. Today it is quite commonly used by doctors, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other health care providers. Its main aim is stimulating the tissue that has been damaged or injured.
The ultrasound is delivered by pulsed or continuous wave. It provides a high heating intensity. The portable therapeutic ultrasound machine stimulates as well as penetrates the repair of the tissues that were damaged. It also assists in the increase of blood flow, pain relief and muscles pain relaxations. It is capable of speeding up the healing process.
The machine works converting electrical current into acoustic energy waves of high frequency. These waves flow together in a parallel stream, which means they are collimated. This is how they can travel 1-5 centimeters into the soft tissues of the patient’s body, namely skin, ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Such waves are usually referred to as deep heating agents that can even penetrate much further into the tissue, targeting a clearly defined area. There is no need to worry about the body’s negative reaction to heat, as this acoustic energy doesn’t have thermal effects.
After the work of a portable ultrasound machine, cells’ micro vibrations lead to the change in cell permeability, stimulation of micro-receptors and changes of diffusion rates. This results in the decrease of healing time and inflammation. It means that the recovery process from acute and chronic injuries can be much more comfortable.
