Most of the people associate ultrasound with pregnancy diagnostics. This may be a popular idea but ultrasound is being widely used in many other medical treatments and diagnostics like tumors, cancers, kidney stones and several others. It is interesting to note that ultrasound is not only used for medical applications but also in industrial field, as a weapon and as a disintegrating element. Ultrasound is a sound that has a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. The frequency is approximately 20,000 hertz.
Medical Ultrasonography is one of the main applications of ultrasound. It is a diagnostic imaging technique that is used to visualize the internal organs. The size and structure of the organ is analyzed in order to understand the complications (if there are any) or determine the features and nature of the organs. Obstetric Sonography is widely used during pregnancy.
In the medical field ultrasound has some effective therapeutic applications. Treatment of benign and malignant tumors and other similar disorders is a very common feature. This is done through high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or focused ultrasound surgery (FUS). The treatment for tumors is guided by MRI, as in magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound.
Ultrasound is used in various applications by varying its frequency and intensity. More powerful ultrasound is used to clean teeth (in dental department) or it is used to heat up biological tissues, hence researchers have devised an effective cure for cancers through ultrasound.
Focused ultrasound is widely used to break the stones that develop in the kidneys. This method eliminates any possibility of surgery. Cataract treatment is also possible through ultrasonic Phacoemulsification (generally less powerful waves are used).
Recently researchers have found various other applications of low-intensity ultrasound. It has been discovered that it has the ability to stimulate bone-growth and it is also capable of disrupting the blood-brain barrier for delivery of the drugs.
Besides that, ultrasound is used for industrial cleaning and for locating flaws in different materials. They are also used to disintegrate many micro-organisms like bacteria. Killing bacteria in sewage has become very easy. Ultrasound has been very useful in scaring away the rodents that destroy many food materials and other objects. Rodents have the capacity to listen high-frequency sounds also they can be bombarded with ultrasonic waves to get rid of them. Many nations have also developed ultrasound weapons that are fatal and capable of causing mass destruction.
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