Abstract
Ultrasound is a mechanical vibration which is basically no different than audible sound waves. The limits of human hearing ability are between 20 and 20,000 Hertz (cycles per second) but the upper limit decreases with age. Middle-C on the piano is a note caused by vibrations of the piano string 262 times per second (262 Hz). This frequency of vibration is usually called the fundamental carrier frequency on which some higher frequencies (harmonies) may be superimposed. Each octave, on the piano, represents a doubling of the fundamental frequency as we go up the scale and higher frequencies have a higher pitch. Sound waves having frequencies higher than the human hearing are called ultrasound. Frequencies which are 100 times higher than those of the human hearing range 2-10 million Hertz or megahertz (MHz) are the most commonly used frequencies in medical diagnosis. The concepts summarized in this chapter are discussed in more detail in many available textbooks [1–11].
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© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
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Spencer, M.P., Reid, J.M. (1986). Physics for ultrasonic diagnosis. In: Spencer, M.P. (eds) Cardiac Doppler Diagnosis, Volume II. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4241-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4241-7_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8383-6
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