Diagnostics of Ultrasound Resolution, Contrast & Safety

Abstract: As ultrasound is the most common method for medical imaging, a lot of money could be saved if the equipment were cheaper. A problem is that the cheaper available scanners are less documented. To evaluate a scanner bought for the institution of applied physics, three categories were pondered. The resolution, contrast and safety of the scanner was of most interest. In order to provide results several measurements were performed. Screws of different dimensions were used for evaluating the resolution, whereas different materials were observed for the contrast. A method to investigate safety was tried by applying the ultrasound probe to water and measuring the transferred heat. Results of the measurements ended up showing that the resolution was about four times lower when comparing with a commercial scanner. The contrast has a large dependence on the difference of acoustic impedance between object and medium. Lastly, a groundwork for investigating the safety was made.