ad. 33. What is more important: the specialist or the ultrasound scanner?

We would like to very specifically and comprehensively answer this question. We agree with the opinion that either a specialist without the medical equipment, or the scanner without the specialist cannot perform an examination. We confirm that the quality of the equipment is of a great importance, thus we operate on the most advanced ultrasound scanners. However, we would like you to be aware that many factors influence a proper ultrasound examination, depending on the experience and professionalism of a specialist and not on the equipment:

1. the technique of an examination, i.e. proper handling of a scanner transducer, fast and skillful obtaining desired, clear cross-sections, especially in difficult conditions such as non-cooperating babies, poorly translucent abdominal wall layers, scars;
2. clarity of obtained images, i.e. the technique of the equipment adjustment. All the ultrasound scanners are preset for a typical patient, although, as we well know, patients are very different, the amount of amniotic fluid is different (acoustic window), also the positioning of a baby and placenta can vary. Adjusting the equipment to the conditions of an examination is the role of a specialist and the knowledge to acquire in this field is very extensive;
3. the knowledge in the area of the correct anatomy and its anomalies in imaging is acquired during a diagnostic training of a given specialist. The apparatus cannot differentiate a healthy heart from the one with a defect, however a good specialist can.

A lot of patients ask us if we learned ultrasonography at a university. This competence is not a part of a college curriculum and is treated as an individual qualification of a physician.