Principles of Ultrasound Application in Animals*†

Diagnostic ultrasound, a non‐invasive mode for imaging soft tissues, requires for its use an understanding of sound and sound‐tissue interaction physics. Ultrasound frequencies from 1.0 to 10.0 MHz are created by electrical stimulation of piezoelectric crystals. These crystals are housed within transducers, which, when applied to the body surface with a coupling agent will produce sound waves, referred to as the sound beam, which are propagated through the soft tissues of the body. When the sound beam encounters tissue interfaces of differing acoustic impedance, a portion of the sound beam is reflected back to the transducer which also acts as a receiver. Echoes returning from soft tissue acoustic interfaces are converted to electrical impulses and displayed on an oscilloscope screen as a cross section of the tissue. Lower frequency sound beams penetrate further into soft tissue, but have poorer resolving capabilities, than higher frequency sound beams. A, B, and M‐modes are the three basic forms of ultrasound used in soft tissue imaging. A‐mode ultrasonic imaging is a one‐dimensional display of echo amplitudes versus distance. B‐mode ultrasonic imaging produces an accurate two‐dimensional cross sectional image of soft tissues. M‐mode ultrasonic imaging is an adaptation of B‐mode to evaluate moving structures of the heart. Fluid‐filled cystic structures have characteristic clear (anechoic) central areas with acoustic enhancement of the back wall of the cyst and deeper structures. Solid masses have echoes in their central portion with resultant poor accentuation of deeper structures. Application of ultrasound to animals requires hair removal since trapped air is a barrier to transmission of the sound beam. Gas‐filled bowel and bone are effective barriers to ultrasonic imaging because of their large acoustic impedance differences compared to soft tissues. The position of the focal point of a focused transducer relative to tissue interfaces is important to accurately depict tissue character. For example, the focal point of the transducer should be superficial to the back wall when scanning cystic structures. When solid lesions, such as liver metastases, are scanned a focal point that lies deep to the lesion should be selected in order to accentuate sound beam attenuation. Time‐gain compensation (TGC) settings are important to produce a balanced scan with equal echo production within like tissues throughout the depth of ultrasound tissue penetration. Initial TGC settings can be made from knowledge of the focal point of the particular transducer, but may have to be adjusted during scanning to produce a balanced image. Ultrasound is an attractive imaging modality in animals since it is noninvasive and presents no known hazard to the operator or patient.