About Your Exam

What is ultrasound?
Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of the body. Ultrasound does not use radiation. The images on the screen show the function of the area being examined. For example, you can see a baby moving in the mother's womb or see the blood flowing to the heart of an adult.

Ultrasound has many uses and may have been ordered by your physician to evaluate the gallbladder, thyroid, heart, abdomen, arteries, breast or most commonly, a pregnancy.

If you are having as ultrasound of your gallbladder or abdomen, please do not eat or drink anything after midnight. This includes coffee. For this reason, most of these exams are scheduled in the morning. Please continue to take your medication as prescribed.

If you are having a pelvic ultrasound, please drink 6 to 8 large glasses of water before your exam. Finish the water one hour before the exam. Do not empty your bladder. A full bladder will allow us to get a better picture. If your bladder is not full, you will be rescheduled for another day.

Pregnant women who are in their second trimester or later are not asked to drink the water.

Most other ultrasound exams require no preparation. You may eat and drink as normal and take your medications.

During the exam?
You may be asked to change into an examination gown. If you wear a comfortable two-piece outfit, you may not have to change.

You will lie on the examination table and the technologist with special training in ultrasound will apply a gel to the area being examined. She will take an instrument called a transducer and gently glide it over the area and will review the images it produces on a screen. She will take pictures of these images and take them to the radiologist for review.

The radiologist will review the film and prepare a report for your physician. If you have had a test at another facility that might be relevant to this ultrasound, you may be asked to bring it with you. It may be used in comparison with the current film.