A new 3D/4D ultrasound machine is helping Samaritan Albany General Hospital’s four sonographers provide high definition still and real time images to assist in diagnoses made by the medical staff. The equipment, manufactured by Philips Medical Systems provides the hospital with state-of-the-art imaging capabilities.

Ultrasound technology uses sound waves that vibrate approximately 100 times the frequency of normal sound to capture images within a body. Over the last 25 years, ultrasound has become especially useful in prenatal care. For years, the images were two dimensional. In recent years, images are now 3D/4D, meaning they provide high-quality full motion digital photography.

Andrea and Mark Ylen of Albany are expecting their second child next month. Andrea had a 3D/4D sonogram in September and said she was “very excited to see the features of the baby before we get to see her in real life. It was very clear. I hadn’t known they had the capability to do that.”

Ylen said the features of the baby girl are easy to distinguish in images captured by the process.

When the Ylens were expecting their first baby, Maija, now 2, a 2D sonogram provided them with an image that had “no depth to the photography. We could see her profiles, but that was about it.”

“This equipment is designed with both the patient and the sonographer in mind,” explained Allison Daniels, a technical sales specialist for Philips and a former hospital sonographer. “It provides the highest quality images and it is ergonomically pleasing for the operator.”

Ergonomics has become an important factor in sonography, Daniels and Holly Langdon, head sonographer at SAGH agree. Sonographers twist, turn and contort themselves into positions that can lead to repetitive stress problems over years of work.

“Some 84 percent of sonographers work in pain each day and of those, about 20 percent will eventually leave the business because of it. That’s even though they love their jobs,” Daniels said.

The Philips iU22 includes a fully-articulating control panel, lightweight transducer cables and connections and an iCOMMAND voice recognition system that allows the sonographer to speak into a hands-free Blue Tooth headset to operate the ultrasound equipment.

The machine’s high resolution flat screen display panel takes clear images to a new level using an ultra-bright, flicker-less technology that also reduces eyestrain. When its keyboard and flat screen monitor attached to an articulating arm are pushed in tight, the machine is small enough to easily be wheeled from room-to-room if needed.

“This system is designed to be used by anyone from 5-foot-1-inch to 6-foot-4-inches tall,” Daniels said. “There’s even a chair that’s designed to ease stress on the sonographer.”

The new equipment will not be used on all patients, Langdon said. The hospital performs about 30 sonograms per day in three rooms. Not all health issues require 3D/4D imaging, Langdon said.

Although 3D/4D imaging has spawned sonogram businesses in places like shopping malls, both Daniels and Langdon emphasize the equipment is not a toy, and parents should not look at it like they were taking holiday photos of their children.

The four SAGH sonographers have all completed four years of college plus additional training, Langdon said.

“I have heard of a 3D/4D unit that is being operated out of someone’s garage,” Daniels said. “People need to be aware that just because someone wears a white coat, it doesn’t mean they are qualified to do an exam. It takes years of training and experience. Hospitals want to make sure that patients are safe.”

Due to rapid advances in technology, some ultrasound equipment can become outdated in 5 to 7 years, Daniels said. The iU22 system includes four Intel processors, so computer upgrades can be made for for an estimated 10 years.

The system also interfaces with the hospital’s Picture Archiving Computer System (PACS) which allows digital images to be transferred throughout the hospital system as needed by medical staff.

Daniels said the iU22 system has been available about 18 months and there are 25 in use throughout Oregon.

“We’re absolutely delighted, thrilled,” Langdon said. “We’ve got a very busy department. This has been a real shot in the arm for us. Most sonographers are very precise, detail-oriented people. We’re kind of like Sherlock Holmes ... we go after clues and discover things. This technology helps us do that better.”

BeTTer VIEWS

From a medical standpoint, the new ultrasound technology may:

• Help patients visualize and understand their condition.

• Provide clearer ultrasound images on larger patients, who are often more difficult to image.

• Help more quickly identify suspicious breast lesions.

• Enhance physicians’ diagnostic capabilities and thereby reduce or eliminate the need for more expensive or invasive tests or procedures.

• Guide catheters and needs in 3D without radiation exposure.

• Provide real-time views of fetal heart function and anatomy.

• Reduce the time required for many exams.