Is The Time Coming That All Ultrasound Transducers Be HLD ed?

COVID-19 is now with us since early Jan if not sooner. Singlehandedly it has invited Ultrasound to be the modality of Triage and Diagnosis. It has raised the profile of the modality of Ultrasound from being a helping imaging system to being in the frontline. As a profession the numbers of Sonographers is set to explode.

What would you like to tell the next generation about
choosing the field of sonography as a career?

Robert De Jong (JHU) answers...........

A. This is an incredible time to choose Sonography as a
profession. Our future is bright with new technologies:
elastography, fusion and hopefully contrast soon.
No other imaging modality gives you the amount of
time with a patient as ultrasound. No other imaging
technologist knows pathology or has the impact to
make a difference in someone’s life as a sonographer.


Then there is the issue of disinfecting the transducers. I detect a growing trend to have all transducers AUTOMATICALLY disinfected. That is have all transducers after every use,TROPHONED. Imagine the demand for Trophon 2 and the consumables.


How can sonographers help reduce the spread of infection
at their facility?

Robert De Jong answers.........

A. Please perform HLD on every transducer, not just
the vaginal or rectal transducers. The transducer is an
extension of our hand. We are required to wash our
hands every time we touch a patient. Shouldn’t we do
the same things to our transducers? We are scanning
people that cannot fight these infections as easily as a
healthy person. In some patients, these infections can
be fatal. As sonographers, we aren’t properly educated
about infections like a nurse. This is something we
need to really start thinking about - performing HLD
on all transducers as well as wiping the ultrasound unit
down between patients. Remember that if the patient
obtains an infection while in the hosptial that tests
and the hosptial where they stay, infections may not
be billable. We need to start thinking more on what is
needed to protect our patients from getting infected. It
would be sad to think the patient became infected from
an ultrasound exam.