Ultrasonography - what does the future hold?

Rapid progressions in our understanding of disease and pregnancy, alongside technological advances, have resulted in an abundance of uses for ultrasound imaging. The choice of ultrasound equipment available to the practitioner also ensures the needs of the patient will be met. Veterinarians and breeders can choose from the portable EMP-820 Plus Vet ultrasound machine (abdominal and cardiac imaging), the Sonoscape S6v (colour images) or machines suitable to use at home such as the Draminski Sonofarm Mini, which is shock-proof and easy to use. Information regarding these machines can be found at www.vetimagesolutions.co.uk. 

It is interesting to speculate what the future may hold for ultrasonography, with a focus on the veterinary field. It is not unreasonable to assume that ultrasound scanning will become more prevalent without our daily lives. For example, industry currently utilises ultrasound to test materials including metals, plastics and wood during the manufacturing process...has your washing machine been subject to ultrasonography? Furthermore, ultrasound frequencies have been used to deliver drugs to tissue, an application with broad therapeutic potential across humans and the animal species. In addition, the size of ultrasound equipment is likely to decrease, with an increase in the number of functions it is able to carry out, not unlike mobile phones, laptops etc... What applications have you heard that use ultrasound technology? Please do let us know by leaving your input in the comments section below.

Consequently, it is exciting to see what ultrasound technology will possess the capacity to do in the future, and how both humans and animals will benefit. Cutting edge technology is consistently sought after, but it may follow that research should focus on our existing technology - ultrasonography.

This article was written by Melissa Robbin, PhD in Reproductive Immunology.