Advancing clinician-performed sonography in the twenty-first century: building on the rich legacy of the twentieth century pioneers

Excerpt

In their first clinical application about 70 years ago, ultrasound machines were the size of automobiles and required water immersion of the patient to obtain shadowy suggestions of internal anatomy [1]. The physics involved were the same as those used to track icebergs and submarines, adapted by innovators to the delicate task of finding a tumor or looking for a gallstone [2, 3]. Within 20 years of its initial clinical use, scientists had advanced the technology to a point where ultrasound machines were much more compact and offered image quality sufficient to evaluate the fetus in obstetrics care [4]. Since then, diagnostic applications of sonography have incrementally increased to encompass literally every field of health care, from physical medicine and rehabilitation to obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine to pulmonology, critical care to disaster management, oncology to trauma and emergency surgery, and pediatrics to gastroenterology [5‐10]. …