According to Wikipedia, Ultrasound is defined by the American National Standards Institute as “sound at frequencies greater than 20 kHz”. It is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from “normal” (audible) sound in its physical properties, except in that humans cannot hear it.
Most of us have heard of or have had an ultrasound done at least once in our lifetime. Sometimes we take it for granted that technology within the medical field has advanced so fast that we don’t remember how things were diagnosed in the past. An Ultrasound machine can view a developing child inside a mother’s stomach or diagnose potential issues with the human body by “seeing” the inside. For those that have done an ultrasound, we are used to machines like this:
With the advancements in computers and the trend heading towards smaller, faster and more effective, it was just a matter of time the ultrasound machines transform into something the size of a mobile phone. How about the size of a band-aid? That is what the engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed. They have developed a $100 ultrasound machines the size of band-aids. This has the potential to transform the medical industry and the world of medical wearables.
To read more about this amazing development check out the link below or watch the video:
On a related note, Renfrew County Paramedic Service in Canada has been testing the concept of a portable point-of-care ultrasound device under their one-year pilot program. The result of the program has generated some buzz in the paramedic community in Canada to the point where Ottawa Paramedic Service is interested in taking a look at the results of the program to decide whether or how ultrasound technology could be used in future operations.
Read more below:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/michael-nolan-renfrew-paramedic-ultrasound-1.4233084