Ultrasound and Doppler

Ultrasound uses sound, not radiation, to look inside the body. It can be repeated freely, which is why it comes first for pregnancy, for children and for the organs of the abdomen.

An ultrasound machine with its screen and control panel beside an examination couch

No radiation, so it is safe to repeat.

Doppler shows blood flowing. Elastography shows how stiff an organ is.

Probes made for children, for muscles and for the unborn baby.

How it works

A probe sends high-frequency sound into the body and listens for the echoes. Different tissues send back different echoes, and a computer turns them into a moving picture. A gel on the skin lets the sound pass.

More than a picture

Colour Doppler

Shows blood moving in vessels.
Finds narrowed arteries and clots in veins.
Checks the flow to an organ.

3D and 4D

Builds the picture into a solid, and 4D shows it moving.
Used in pregnancy and in the study of organs.

Elastography with ARFI

Measures how stiff an organ is, without a needle.
In the liver, stiffness tells how much scarring there is.

2D echo

An ultrasound of the heart.

Probes for every need

A dedicated paediatric probe, for children.
A musculoskeletal probe, for muscles, tendons and joints.
Whole-body ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided biopsies.
TRUS, for the prostate, by the rectal route.

What to expect

Fifteen to thirty minutes, lying on a couch with gel on the skin. Some scans of the abdomen need you not to have eaten for several hours, and some of the pelvis need a full bladder. You are told when you book.