When you are dealing with digital imaging energy sources, safety should be your number one priority next to the integrity of the test. Even if you have the best ultrasound machine, you cannot make it any safer for the patients as they are directly under the potentially harmful rays. Now this doesn’t mean that you should close your lab and do something else; there are always some precautionary measures that can be taken to be on the safe side.

Tips for Safe Ultrasound Machine Operation:

The rules for the procedure through the ultrasound system will be the same irrespective of whether it’s a quick scan or a lengthy one, you need to keep the following tips in mind:

• Use Lowest Settings: The best practice of using the ultrasound system is to set its settings to the minimum configurations that are capable of providing the desired results. This will prevent unnecessary exposure to the energy sources that can be harmful to the patient.
• Keep Procedures Short: Another factor to remember is to keep the duration of the procedure as short as possible while also making sure the integrity of the test stays intact. This way, the patient will have less exposure to the ultrasound, x-ray or other energy sources used in digital imaging. This is necessary because some scans can carry big risks to the health of the patient. This is especially important when getting images of the fetus as we don’t know what threats the digital energy sources might pose to it.
• Only Focus on Diagnosis and Monitoring: You should only use the ultrasound machine for these purposes and nothing else. When dealing with a case of pregnancy, you might come across parents that only want the scanning done for the purpose of collecting souvenirs like videos or printed photos of the fetus. Do not provide them with this kind of scan, however, if you are conducting a medically necessary scan then it is permissible to provide the photos or videos of the test to the parents.
• Only Trained Adults Should Operate: Adults with medical training for operating the ultrasound system and knowledge of the risks associated with it should only be permitted to use the system. Understanding the potential threats is the key factor in ensuring the safety of both the patients and the technician. So it is not allowed to let untrained staff operate the diagnostic imaging equipment.
• Be Attentive to Patient’s Comments: You should always ask the patient to let you know if they feel any kind of pain or prickly sensation. This might be an indication that the nerve endings or bones near the ultrasonic beam are getting overheated. So in that case, you must reduce the power or the intensity of the ultrasound.

Whether you operate the fixed or portable ultrasound machine, you should always handle it with great care. Even if you have the best and most expensive system in terms of the ultrasound machine cost, following the aforementioned tips will only do you good.