Vascular Ultrasound Specialist

What is vascular ultrasound?

Vascular or duplex ultrasound is an imaging technology the team at Sarasota Vascular Specialists uses to assess your circulation. It’s a valuable tool for analyzing how well blood flows through arteries and veins throughout your body.

Vascular ultrasound uses sound waves that enter your tissues from a hand-held device called a transducer. The sound waves echo back from your blood cells to the transducer. Computer software then translates these echoing sound waves into a detailed image of the blood vessels.

Using these images, your doctor at Sarasota Vascular Specialists works out how fast your blood flows through a specific vein or artery. This helps them diagnose and evaluate vascular diseases.

What is vascular ultrasound used for?

The team of board-certified vascular surgeons at Sarasota Vascular Specialists uses vascular ultrasounds in several ways.

Vascular screenings

Vascular ultrasound is a fast and accurate way to screen for conditions affecting blood flow, like carotid artery disease, which can cause strokes and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Vascular disease diagnosis

Vascular ultrasound also plays a vital role in diagnosing vascular diseases. It’s possible to measure the degree of narrowing in your arteries caused by atherosclerosis (a buildup of sticky plaque on the artery walls) and find areas of severe narrowing. Vascular ultrasound can also find blockages causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Dialysis access evaluation

If you need to go on dialysis for kidney failure, Sarasota Vascular Specialists can assess any access port problems using vascular ultrasound.

Post-procedure evaluation

The Sarasota Vascular Specialists team also uses vascular ultrasound to evaluate patients who’ve had procedures like bypass grafts and stent placement.

What advantages does vascular ultrasound offer?

Vascular ultrasound has several advantages. It’s noninvasive and doesn’t require injections or the use of contrast dye. You also avoid exposure to the ionizing radiation used in X-rays and CT scans.

Vascular ultrasound is one of the few technologies that provide accurate images of the blood flow in your veins and arteries. It’s more convenient as it’s possible to move an ultrasound (unlike a CT scanner or MRI machine) and is far more cost-effective.

Sarasota Vascular Specialists has their own in-house lab for vascular ultrasounds staffed by seven registered vascular technologists. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art GE Ultrasound machines.

Call Sarasota Vascular Specialists or book an appointment online today to discuss your vascular health concerns and learn more about vascular ultrasound.