Very near the beginning of World War II, Karl Dussik began exploring ultrasound technology for diagnostic purposes by "attempted to locate brain tumors and the cerebral ventricles by measuring the transmission of ultrasound beam through the skull" (Woo 7). This experiment produced disappointing results, and the development of this apparatus was not pursued further because of the elaborate set-up, and lack of clear visual representations of the brain.

However, at about the same time in Hamburg, Germany, Heinrich Netheler and Wolf-Dieter Keidel were independently working on developing ultrasound technology for the purpose of diagnosis. Where most development on the topic was still focused on the treatment of diseases, both Keidel and Netheler presented papers to the First Congress of Ultrasound in Medicine held in Erlangen, Germany in May, 1948, on the potential of ultrasound technology use in the diagnostic field.

The first diagnostic research conducted in the United States was released as a report to the public in 1949. Though the research had been going on for quite some time, it was being explored under the supervision of the military by a young Lieutenant at the Navel Medical Research Institute by the name of George Ludwig. He conducted research on animal tissue that included such experiments as attempting to detect the presence of human gall stones that had been embedded into animal tissue.

Ludwig's efforts were integral to the advancement of ultrasound technology in the diagnostic arena.

Among other important original findings, Ludwig reported the velocity of sound transmission in animal soft tissues was determined to be between 1490 and 1610 meters per second, with a mean value of 1540 m/sec. This is a value that is still in use today. He also determined...

His team also showed that the speed of ultrasound and acoustic impedance values of high water-content tissues do not differ greatly from those of water, and that measurements from different directions did not contribute greatly to these parameters. (Woo 28)
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute, John Reid and John Wild, used this momentum and developed technology targeted at diagnosing breast cancer. They also developed a hand-held instrument in 1952 that was the predecessor to the present-day hand-held devices.

The use of ultrasound technology was ushered into the fields of obstetrics and gynecology by Joseph Holmes. Horace Thompson, and Stewart Taylor in the mid-60s. Today this technology is used to diagnose a huge range of medical conditions. It has been developed into such a sensitive instrument that it is even been able to diagnose medical problems within the unborn fetus, such as heart abnormalities, spinal problems, and other potentially life-threatening conditions. It has not only opened the door for earlier detection of many diseases in bodies from the fetus all the way up to full grown adults, but it has also enabled research on many diseases to move forward in ways never thought of before because of its ability to identify the precursors to the disease as well as the full-blown disease itself.

Works Cited

Freudenrich, Craig C. "How Ultrasound Works." How Stuff Works. http://www.howstuffworks.com. Accessed 5 June 2006.

Goldberg, Barry. "Obstetric U.S. Imaging: The Last 40 Years." Radiology. 2000; 215:

Woo, Joseph. A short History of the development of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. http://www.ob-ultrasound.net/history1.html.2002.