Rise And Impact Of Advanced Imaging Technology

Medical technology is undoubtedly indispensable to the health and for improving quality of life of people. It has revolutionised healthcare from almost past three decades, allowing doctors to find disease earlier and improve patient outcomes.

- Dr Rajeev Boudhankar

In a utopian world, it would have been possible to diagnose, treat and cure patients without causing any harmful side-effects. Since this is not possible today, the efficacy of medical imaging cannot be overstated considering it has enabled doctors to see inside a patient without having to cut them open.

It has ensured early detection and treatment for cases such as lung, breast cancers etc. The chances of medico-legal issues too have been reduced due to delayed or incorrect diagnosis.

There is some downside linked with the imaging technology. In the present era, the deterioration of skills during physical examination of patients has become much more evident.

Conventional ultrasound imaging relies on good contact between the transducer and the skin, using acoustic coupling gel. Without this, the ultrasound beam encounters a large acoustic impedance mismatch between the transducer and the air in front of it, which prevents beam transmission. This limits the use of ultrasound in some clinical scenarios, including imaging of open wounds and during surgery, where sterile conditions are required.

Now, researchers in Japan have demonstrated non-contact ultrasound imaging, where the transducers are separated from the skin by air. “The project is in its infancy, but the results to date have been very encouraging,” claims Gregory Clement, physicist and lead author of a study conducted at the University of ElectroCommunications in Tokyo.

The non-contact technique exploits the greater focusing potential of ultrasound in air. A high beam intensity in air compensates for the low transmission of the beam across the air–skin boundary.