In-House Ultrasound Services in Bixby Knolls, Downtown Long Beach, and Paramount CA

Before the ultrasound begins, you may be asked to remove all of your jewelry near the area that is being examined, remove all or some of your clothing, or even reposition the clothing so it doesn’t interfere with the ultrasound, and change into a medical gown that is provided by our staff.

Once you are brought into the room, you will be asked to lie down on the examination table, and an ultrasound technician will be with you.

Ultrasound also known as sonography uses a small probe (transducer) to transmit sound waves into the body and record the waves back. The sound waves travel to the area which is being examined and then are reflected. The ultrasound transducers are made of ceramic crystals called piezoelectric, the materials produce a sound wave when applied to the soft tissue, bone, or fluid and reflect it to the ultrasound scanner. The scanner calculates the distance between the bone, fluid, or tissue to the transducer creating a two-dimensional image. To keep air pockets from forming between the skin and transducer the ultrasound technician will apply a gel, this will also prevent sound waves from entering the body.

There are three main purposes of ultrasound, diagnostic, functional, and therapeutic. Diagnostic ultrasound is used for a non-invasive image of the internal organs. It is not good for bones or tissue that contain air. Some conditions allow for images of bones such as in a fetus or if the lungs are filled with fluid. Diagnostic imaging is best used for monitoring the growth and development of a pregnancy, as well as imaging the eye, brain, thyroid, blood vessels, skin, and muscles. Imagines are displayed in 2D, 3D, and 4Dd (3D in motion). Functional ultrasounds are an application where a doppler and color doppler is used to measure blood flow within the body and heart. It can also measure the speed of blood flow and movement. It is commonly used to see if there is a build-up or blockage throughout the heart and body. Elastography is another form of functional ultrasound and can determine the stiffness of tissue with can differentiate between tumors and healthy tissue. Elastography is best used for liver fibrosis showing the scar tissue build-up due to inflammation. Therapeutic or interventional ultrasound sends high levels of acoustic output to focus on specific targets, the main purpose is for heating, ablating, or breaking up tissue. One type of therapeutic ultrasound is high-intensity focused ultrasound where high beams are highly targeted. This method may be used for destroying or modifying tissue in the body, without having to possibly harm the skin or tissue surrounding the area.

Ultrasounds are the second most prescribed image procedure next to x-rays, but most insurance companies will only cover a small fraction of the cost. When it comes to pregnancies, the procedure will need to be deemed necessary and some insurance companies will only cover the cost of one. 3D and 4D ultrasounds are typically not covered because they are not necessary especially when 2D ones can be performed. Even patients with insurance can expect to pay anywhere between $34 to $378 which is 25% of the total cost of an ultrasound. The cost of ultrasounds varies from place to place, and it is good practice to find out what your insurance company will cover before the appointment. We serve patients from Downtown Long Beach CA, Bixby Knolls Long Beach CA, Paramount CA, East Side CA, and Los Altos CA.