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Pregnancy ultrasound
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A pregnancy ultrasound is an imaging test that works with sound. It uses sound waves to put together a picture of how the baby is developing inside the uterus, the womb, and it also checks the woman's pelvic organs.
The procedure is easy to describe. A water-based gel is spread over the belly, and a handheld transducer, the device that sends the sound out and listens for what comes back, is moved across the area on top of the gel. The gel is there for a concrete reason: it is what helps transmit the waves. They travel inward, bounce off the structures they meet, and from those echoes the machine builds the image. It is an echo in a canyon, only measured by a machine: a sound goes out, and what comes back tells you what is up ahead.
It is not always done from the outside. Sometimes the transducer is placed inside the vagina, which is more likely early in pregnancy.
In brief
A pregnancy ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to see how the baby is developing in the uterus; it also checks the female pelvic organs.
A water-based gel is spread over the belly and a handheld transducer is moved across the area; the gel helps transmit the waves, which bounce off structures in the body to form the image.
Sometimes it is done by placing the transducer inside the vagina, which is more likely early in pregnancy.
Sources (1)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineUltrasound pregnancy. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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