From Hitachi Medical Corporation (HMC);
The HI VISION™ 6500 - EUB-6500 high resolution digital ultrasound system offers advanced clinical imaging, enhanced operating efficiency, and remarkable clinical flexibility, all in robust and versatile configuration that simply represents a better clinical solution in a variety of real-world, real-work arenas.

Ultrasonography of the kidneys (renal ultrasound) is part of a complete examination of the abdomen. Ultrasound is used to determine the size, shape, and exact position of the kidneys. Renal ultrasound provides important information regarding kidney function, related blood vessels, kidney stones, renal cysts, tumors, or hydronephrosis (suggestive of obstruction or blockage of the kidney).
The kidneys are scanned on longitudinal and transverse planes. Patients should avoid carbonated drinks such as soda or seltzer the day before, and have a full bladder for the test.
Lithotripsy is a therapeutic ultrasound procedure used to shatter simple stones in the kidney or upper urinary tract.

See also Urologic Ultrasound, Reflux Sonography.

(short for ultrasound beam) The sound beam is the confined, directional beam of ultrasound traveling as a longitudinal wave from the transducer face into the propagation medium. The near field and the far field are two separate regions along the beam. Sound beams are either steered mechanically or electrically. Both rapidly sweep sound waves through tissues.

See also Sheer Wave, Beam Vessel Angle, Beam Steering, and Huygens Principle.

Peripheral veins are easily tested using a 5 to 10 MHz transducer. The venous walls are smooth, thin, and compressible. Venous ultrasound imaging requires the compression of the veins in the transverse view. If compression is performed in the longitudinal view, the vein may roll away from the transducer possibly creating a false-negative examination.
The lumen of the normal vein is echo free. Increasing the gain will display low level echoes representing venous blood moving towards the heart. When performing Doppler spectral analysis or color Doppler the gate should be placed in the center of the vessel. In case of a non-obstructing or recanalized thrombosis, the Doppler gate should be placed within the remaining vessel lumen for flow detection.

See also Maximum Venous Outflow and Zero Offset.