Key Point: Ultrasound experts agree that long-term effects are not known.
American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) Consensus Report on Potential Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound. Executive Summary. Bioeffects Committee of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/18359906
Address correspondence to J. Brian Fowlkes, PhD, Basic Radiological Sciences Division, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Kresge III, Room 3320, 200 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0553 USA. E-mail: fowlkes@umich.edu
Excerpt: “American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine Consensus Report on Potential Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound” states that there are indeed some potential risks to administering ultrasound tests, which include “postnatal thermal effects, fetal thermal effects, postnatal mechanical effects, fetal mechanical effects, and bioeffects considerations for ultrasound contrast agents.” “The long-term effects of tissue heating and cavitation have shown decreases in the size of red blood cells in cattle when exposed to intensities higher than diagnostic levels. However, long-term effects due to ultrasound exposure at diagnostic intensity is still unknown.”
Key Point: Ultrasound experts agree that long-term effects are not known.
American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) Consensus Report on Potential Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound. Executive Summary. Bioeffects Committee of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/18359906
Address correspondence to J. Brian Fowlkes, PhD, Basic Radiological Sciences Division, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Kresge III, Room 3320, 200 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0553 USA. E-mail: fowlkes@umich.edu
Excerpt: “American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine Consensus Report on Potential Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound” states that there are indeed some potential risks to administering ultrasound tests, which include “postnatal thermal effects, fetal thermal effects, postnatal mechanical effects, fetal mechanical effects, and bioeffects considerations for ultrasound contrast agents.” “The long-term effects of tissue heating and cavitation have shown decreases in the size of red blood cells in cattle when exposed to intensities higher than diagnostic levels. However, long-term effects due to ultrasound exposure at diagnostic intensity is still unknown.”