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Ultrasound Medicine Ultrasound is very useful because it allows doctors to see inside the body with out the need to cut it open. Ultra sonic waves are high frequency (30 kHz +), longitudinal waves. They are used in medical scanning ‘medical imaging’. The process works the same way as echo sounding. Ultrasound penetrates the human body well, but some of the original wave is reflected off tissues, bones etc. The returned waves are used to build a picture of inside the body, for example in scans to check on babies while there are still in the mothers’ womb ‘pre-natal scan’. The body absorbs some energy, but it is a lot less damaging than other penetrating waves - for example, X-rays. The ultrasonic waves can also be used for a variety of medical uses, such as to study and treat hard-to-reach body areas. Uses for ultra sound were first developed in World War II to locate submerged objects; the technique is now widely used in virtually every branch of medicine. In obstetrics it is used to study the age, sex, and level of development of th