Term Paper on "Radiology Technology Class"

Term Paper 4 pages (1110 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Radiology

The History of Ultrasound Technology

The history of ultrasound technology is a long and interesting one. It seems counterintuitive to learn that the technology we have today to diagnose life-threatening diseases as well as to diagnose prenatal issues, and to help maintain healthy pregnancies owes much of its development to wartime technology. Of course, many of our life-saving equipment in the medical and other fields seem to come from this ironic source. The technology has survived some precarious beginning as well as some disappointing stops and starts, but it has developed into a useful diagnostic tool that can not only find the smallest of abnormalities to help increase the chance of survival of many diseases, but can also be used to bring much relief and joy into the lives of expectant couples.

Ultrasound is a medical technology that is used to diagnose various diseases and other disorders, as well as contribute to a healthy pregnancy, or diagnose fetal abnormalities. It uses high-frequency waves to develop a visual representation of its subject from the echoes of these waves. Much like SONAR technology, the machine emits a an extremely high frequency pulse that enters the body and is reflected back to the receiver. The waves are measured as to the time and distance it took for them to reach the object and then bounce back to the receiver. This measurement is then calculated by the machine and what is produced is a two-dimensional picture of the objects being examined (Howstuffworks.com). Though so far not used for medical or diagnostic purposes, the technology has been developed even further to be able to produce three-dimensional pictures of the object. Right now this advanced technology is used for recreational purposes for expectant parents to see the facial features of their unborn children. This can also be used for a four dimensional video session as well. This newest advance is slighty controversial, however, because many medical professionals feel that there could be some side effects not yet discovered from this process, and they often prefer subjecting a fetus to the ultrasound process as few times as possible throughout a normal pregnancy

Ultrasound technology's roots are in the development of SONAR technology in the mid-19th century. The concept of high-frequency sound waves, or "ultrasound," had been around since the late 18th century when an Italian scientist began exploring the natural navigational system used by bats. In 1876, Francis Galton developed the Galton whistle, which was capable of producing the high-frequency sounds, however, "The real breakthrough in the evolution of high frequency echo-sounding techniques came when the piezo-electric effect in certain crystals was discovered by Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques Curie in Paris, France in 1880" (Woo, 1). RADAR and radio technology developments during World War I also had a reasonable contribution to the early development of ultrasound.

At first, ultrasound technology was used not for diagnosis, but for therapy treatment. Just as with many budding technologies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ultrasound was appropriated for many misguided uses and its benefits were touted for just about every disease from arthritis to heart disease (Woo, 4). This broad and reckless use of the new technology became an obstacle to the development of ultrasound because of the inevitable complaints of damage from these "breakthrough" treatments, and so no major… READ MORE

How to Reference "Radiology Technology Class" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Radiologic Technology Thesis

Radiology Careers

Modern medicine is capable of treating a tremendous range of human disease and injuries, but the usefulness of all medical specialties depends on accurate diagnosis. Virtually every conceivable… read more

Thesis 3 pages (770 words) Sources: 0 Style: MLA Topic: Medicine / Pharmacy

---

Digital Imaging in the Hospital Radiology Department Term Paper

Digital Imaging in the Hospital Radiology Department

The Evolution of Digital Imaging

Digital imaging in hospital radiology departments came about for several reasons. The most important of these, however, was… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2187 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Medical Radiology Term Paper

Radiological Imaging

Portable Computed Radiography vs. Portable Digital Radiography

The Objective in this case study research proposal is to evaluate briefly the system most suited for the use of evaluation… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (1218 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Medicine / Pharmacy

---

Radiation Safety in Radiology Term Paper

history of radiation and complications with it through the years, along with the safety precautions developed today. Today, it is difficult to imagine any branch of medicine that does not… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1280 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA Topic: Medicine / Pharmacy

---

Voice Over IP Research Proposal

breakthroughs in communication technology and in cultural history alike would occur with the mainstream application of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). This is the internet standard which is at… read more

Research Proposal 2 pages (646 words) Sources: 2 Style: APA Topic: Computers / IT / Internet

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>