Vascular ultrasound is a specialized form of ultrasound that produces images of the way your blood is flowing through your veins. Board-certified cardiology and interventional cardiology specialists Rakesh Sahni, MD, and Sheila Sahni, MD, of Sahni Heart Center in Clark, Fords, Red Bank, and City of Orange, New Jersey, use state-of-the-art vascular ultrasound technology to help diagnose a range of heart health problems. Find out more by calling Sahni Heart Center today. You can also use the online form to book an appointment at the Clark, New Jersey, office.

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What is a vascular ultrasound?

Vascular ultrasound is a technology that uses high-frequency sound waves to examine your body’s circulatory system. It can help identify where there are blockages in arteries or veins and show whether you have any blood clots.

Ultrasounds are very safe, as they don’t use ionizing radiation. They are also useful for providing images of blood vessels that wouldn’t be visible on an X-ray.

What is vascular ultrasound used for?

Vascular ultrasound is useful for monitoring blood flow into the organs and tissues all around your body. It can locate a blockage (stenosis), problems like plaque build-up, which cause narrowing of the arteries, and emboli, which can block off a blood vessel.

Vascular ultrasound can find blood clots causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and see if you have enlargement of an artery (aneurysm). It can also be useful in assessing conditions like varicose veins, those unsightly blue or purple coils that appear mainly on the legs.

Vascular ultrasound can help assess whether you’re suitable to undergo a surgical procedure like angioplasty and to evaluate the success of previous procedures involving your veins.

How does vascular ultrasound work?

Ultrasound uses sonar – sound wave imaging that’s also used on ships and submarines, and by bats. A sound wave striking an object bounces off, creating an echo. During your vascular ultrasound, the transducer or handpiece that passes over your body sends out sound waves and records the echoes they make.

The receiver in the transducer is so sensitive it can record the most minute changes in the echoes. The software in the ultrasound machine measures the echoes to determine an object’s:

  • Distance
  • Size
  • Shape
  • Consistency

The images these sound waves create translate into a moving representation of your blood vessels on the monitor for Dr. Sahni to analyze.

Doppler ultrasound is a technique used in vascular ultrasounds. In Doppler ultrasound, the way blood cells move creates changes in pitch in the echoing sound waves, known as the Doppler effect.

The ultrasound software creates pictures of the speed and direction of the flow of blood cells as they travel around your body. Doppler ultrasound provides Dr. Sahni with images of the blood flow in your veins and arteries.

If you need to undergo a vascular ultrasound, you can feel confident it’s going to be a pain-free, safe experience. Find out more by calling Sahni Heart Center today, or you can book online for the Clark, New Jersey, office.