High resolution lenses for machine vision — standard and custom lens design
Sonography Technology Evolves
High Resolution Lenses for machine vision, instrumentation, inspection and vibration-sensitive applications. Standard and custom hi-res lens assemblies.
Sonography Technology
In the realm of sonography, also known as ultrasound technology, physicians have seen a move from three-dimensional to four-dimensional. Physicians, particularly obstetricians and gynecologists to obtain images of unborn children, use sonography; these images are presented to the prospective parents.
The procedure allows the physician to see images of the baby’s developing organs through the use of high frequency sound waves, which produce the image without the use of radioactive ions. The procedure is also used to scan for breast cancer. Under typical circumstances, the sonographer will use a 2D ultrasound but in some cases the use of 4D technology may be called for.
An ultrasound is a routine test used by the obstetrician to determine the gestational age of the fetus and to examine the baby’s development.
Sonography techniques have long provided physicians the ability to identify a baby in utero as early as 28 weeks of gestation. The ultrasound allows the physician to show the parents the baby’s features as well as allowing them to know the baby’s gender if they wish. While the 3D capabilities of current sonographs are particularly eye opening for the parents and the physician, the introduction of 4D images brings the fetus into sharper focus for both.
With the 4D technology, in addition to offering the parents a clearer image, it also provides the physician a clearer image in the event he needs to observe the baby more closely. The technology also makes it easier for the sonographer and the doctor to perform tests that were previously not possible without putting the mother and the fetus at risk. As with 3D sonographs, the 4D devices are also a non-invasive way to examine the fetus but these devices can also speed up the process and allow a complete sonogram to be performed in less than 20 minutes.
The way the ultrasound is performed is that a sonographer will place a transducer on the woman’s belly and the sound waves will be reflected off the target (the fetus, in this case) and sent to a computer, which deciphers the information and transforms it into an image. Prior to the introduction of 4D, or even 3D imaging technologies, the images were so blurry and vague; it took the trained sonographer to point out the body parts and features of the fetus to the parents, who were hard-pressed to understand the image.
The use of 4D ultrasound images and sonogram equipment provides the parents with a detailed image, in real-time. Four dimensional ultrasound equipment has not moved into the mainstream enough that patients will be able to have access to it in all doctor’s offices or hospitals but may soon become more mainstream as the technology is perfected and the prices are lowered.
Universe Optics is a Lens designer and provider of optical lenses for ultrasound imaging, as well as industrial, high tech and electronic applications.