Ultrasound diagnostics in pediatrics: history and achievements

Abstract

Currently, the method of ultrasound diagnostics (echography) is the leading one among other imaging tools in medicine. The history of the method begins in 1942, but the main developments should be attributed to the 1950-1960s, when owing to the first ultrasound machines created in various countries, the fundamental possibility of visualizing tissue structures of various organs in normal and in various forms of pathology was proved. Since the 1970s, the solution of technical problems has led to the creation of ultrasound systems close to modern types of equipment. In the same years, ultrasound examinations for the first time began to be effectively used in the Research Institute of Pediatrics of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, where they took a worthy place among other diagnostic methods. For the first time, ultrasound techniques of various organs were developed, their normal age characteristics were established, the possibilities in the diagnosis of many forms of pathology were proved and the criteria for their differential diagnosis were determined. But at the same time, despite the significant diagnostic potential of ultrasound diagnostics, we must not forget about the sufficient subjectivity of the method, which requires special attention and knowledge when obtaining and interpreting echographic images. The newest ultrasound methods that have appeared in recent years include three- and four-dimensional echography, ultrasound tomography, the possibility of panoramic, contrast and intra-organ studies, pulse inversion harmonics, quantitative assessment of organ parenchyma, elastography, various variants of Doppler (including intravascular) methods.