Ultrasound Technology in Anesthesia

Abstract

Ultrasound is becoming increasingly useful to the anesthesiologist for patient monitoring, intraoperative diagnosis and research. Advances in ultrasound technology will bring increases in the number of indications for its usage.

Modem ultrasound transducers employ piezoelectric crystals to transmit ultrasound and receive echoes. Ultrasound techniques include the A-mode, B-mode, M-mode, two­ dimensional (2-D) scan and recently 3-D scan.

Transesophageal echo, ultrasound transducer mounted on the tip of a gastroscope. It can visualize the heart from behind through the esophagus. These transducers are single plane, multiplane, or pediatric transducers. A main application of TEE as a sensitive cardiac monitor is the detection of myocardial ischemia. Based on the idea that within seconds after interruption of myocardial blood flow, normal inward movement and thickening of the affected myocardium ceases. TEE can now detect the various degrees of segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA).