Description:

I’ll be demonstrating some basics of ultrasound imaging technique.

I have a linear probe here, and I’m using it to image Derek’s thyroid. I have a lot of gel on the probe which helps get good contact with the skin with no air in between, which would cause artifacts.

If I scan from superior- near Derek’s head- to inferior- towards his chest, with the probe oriented transversely, I can image the whole thyroid lobe in this direction. This orientation is similar to the “axial” orientation in a CT. By convention, the marker on the side of the probe is towards the patient’s left.

If I turn the probe 90 degrees, so that the marker is towards’ the patients head, we would call this a “sagittal” image, and I can sweep from lateral to medial to image the whole thyroid that way. This is similar to the sagittal orientation in a CT.

If I were to do something in between, called an “oblique” orientation, with the marker towards the patient’s shoulder, the probe would be oriented diagonally. This type of imaging is more commonly used in cardiac ultrasound.

Here is a link to the media file ultrasound probe orientation.mp4