... or is ultrasonography the future?

Rapid progressions in our understanding of pregnancy and mechanisms of disease alongside concomitant advances in technology have resulted in an abundance of uses for ultrasound imaging. With an extensive choice of ultrasound equipment available to the practitioner, the client can be assured there needs will be met. Veterinarians can choose from the portable EMP-820 Plus Vet ultrasound machine, suitable for abdominal and cardiac imaging, or the Sonoscape S6v, capable of taking colour images.

In addition, home ultrasound machines are available, such as the Draminski Sonofarm Mini, avoiding the requirement for a trip to the vets which is both shock-proof and easy to use. More and more breeders of dogs, cats, and even reptiles (often used for early gender determination or follicular scanning) are beginning to introduce ultrasound as a vital part of their breeding programme or simply for the health of their animals.

Consequently, it is interesting to speculate what the future may hold for ultrasonography, specifically in relation to the veterinary field. It is not unreasonable to assume that ultrasound imaging will become more and more prevalent within our daily lives.For example, industry can use ultrasound to test materials such as metal, plastic and even wood during the course of manufacturing…has your dining table been subject to ultrasonography? From a personal viewpoint, the role of ultrasound in disease prognosis, diagnosis and treatment is of great interest. Using ultrasound frequencies to deliver drugs to tissues is one application with broad therapeutic potential across humans and the animal species. Furthermore the sizes of ultrasound machines are likely to decrease, with an increase in the number of functions it is able to carry out, not unlike mobile phones, laptops etc.

It is thus exciting to see what ultrasound technology will be capable to do in the future, and how humans and animals will benefit. The newest cutting edge technology is consistently sought after, but it may follow that research should focus more on our existing technology – namely, ultrasonography.