Mrs. Quinn says…
This website outlines the core images you are required to obtain as a student in the HCC Sonography program. In clinical practice, working sonographers typically acquire more images than the minimums listed here. Think of these protocols as a structured foundation. For example, when scanning the liver, a practicing sonographer will capture images continuously throughout the sweep, while students will pause at designated anatomical landmarks and record the required 17 images. In the field, this may easily exceed 25 images.
Before taking any required images of an organ or vessel, always begin with a full sweep.
A sweep allows you to identify pathology, variants, or congenital anomalies, and to locate the parenchyma or vessel you’ll be documenting. Scan completely—medially to laterally and superiorly to inferiorly—until the structure is no longer visible.
Patient factors may require adjustments.
Body habitus, postoperative changes, staples, stitches, tubes, dressings, or open lesions can limit your typical acoustic windows. In most situations, you should be able to find at least two to three alternate windows to visualize your structure of interest.
Transducer Directional Terms
Elongate: match the sound beam to your vessel or organ
Heel toe: This means to angle your transducer down and up to straighten out your vessel or organ
Clockwise: Turn your transducer to the right
Counter-clockwise: Turn your transducer to the left
Angle: Move your transducer medially/laterally, right/left, or oblique. Typically, your hand stays in the same place, but the face of your transducer moves.
Slide: Your entire transducer is moving up, down or side to sideSweep: Scan through the entire area of interest, whether it be vessel or organ.