From the days when a wheel and stone were all you needed to survive to the days when you had everything at your fingertips but couldn’t keep up with the pace of the world, the human race has grown as a curious soul.
The 21st century is marked as the beginning of the digital era where what would suffice is not enough, but to better, each step for comfort is the aim. With the advancement in various fields, notable betterment has been seen in medical applications.
Health is always a priority, and so is the field of medicine, where one such innovation has been used frequently for every other body examination.
Due to its diverse applications, ultrasonography has always been in demand. Recently, IIT Madras has found a way to increase the resolution of the image obtained from it.
Previous System
Ultrasonography technology is used to obtain real-time images of the body by passing ultrasonic waves through it and reflecting them off the body.
The present method employs a ‘beamformer’ to recreate the image of a specific body part. The existing system provides quality but is not up to the mark as it has low noise immunity.
Another approach, known as the Delay and Sum beamformer, was created at that time. Because it is inexpensive and simple to construct, this beamformer is employed in the majority of systems. The mistake, however, is still present.
New System
The current research has innovated a new process called F-DowMAS, which is the Filtered Delay Multiply and Sum Method of Beam Formation, which has a clearer image.
Here the noise immunity is better, and hence the image resolution is clearer. The research has been published in peer-review journals and scientific reports for now.
The advancement of computing capabilities has aided growth in ultrasonography by providing software help for getting the final image.
Ultrasonography Research Progress
Physicians will benefit from the research since it will help them better understand a specific physical problem. The main purpose of this research development was to solve the problem of noise protection in the existing system.
“This study could have many applications, such as early detection, better diagnosis, kidney stones, and better biopsy procedures guided by real-time imaging applications for medical monitoring,” said Arun K. Thittai, Professor, Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras. He said similar tests were expected by the university soon.
Conclusion
Due to such medical advancements, the world came to a standstill only for a small time during the ongoing pandemic. The current system needs new ideas to come up that would help make the world better in the future.
Today, it’s about getting people checked out early and getting them better treatment. In the future, it could be about getting rid of cancer cells.
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and this era’s speed is serving the same purpose.
The million-dollar question right now is whether these technologies will serve the objective of medical science, i.e. their intended purpose, or whether they will be used for other self-serving purposes.
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