Services
Pet Ultrasound in Happy Valley, OR
Fern Hill Veterinary Care
Pet Ultrasound
Although humans and animals are different in many ways, some advances in human medicine are also very useful for veterinary patients. One of these advances, diagnostic ultrasound, has proven to be a powerful tool in veterinary medicine. As a practice, one of our goals is to offer state-of-the-art medicine and diagnostic testing; so we are pleased to offer ultrasound services as a means of providing a higher level of quality care to our patients.
Ultrasonography is a diagnostic procedure that creates an image study by using ultrasonic waves. This means that we can observe internal images of the patient’s body during ultrasonography. Ultrasonography, unlike some other imaging techniques such as x-rays, does not employ radiation. Ultrasonography, on the other hand, employs high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to build a picture of what’s going on inside your pet’s body. Ultrasonography is a painless, non-invasive method of diagnosing and evaluating a wide range of disorders.
Ultrasound waves are created by an ultrasound machine. The equipment is connected to a little probe that is softly pressed against the skin of your pet. The probe emits painless ultrasound waves that bounce off structures in your pet’s body (such as organs) and return to a sensor inside the ultrasound machine. These reflected “echoes” are collected by ultrasound equipment and used to create images that may be viewed on a screen. Ultrasound waves can produce clear images of the liver, spleen, gallbladder, and kidneys, among other abdominal organs. It can also be used to evaluate fetal health and track pregnancy in breeding animals, as well as diagnose and stage (identify the severity of) some cancers.