McLaren Macomb Offers Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

McLaren Macomb in Mount Clemens now offers a musculoskeletal ultrasound. The noninvasive imaging technique provides high-definition, real-time images of patients’ musculoskeletal systems without exposing them to radiation.
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McLaren Macomb
McLaren Macomb now offers a musculoskeletal ultrasound. // Photo courtesy of McLaren Health Care

McLaren Macomb in Mount Clemens now offers a musculoskeletal ultrasound. The noninvasive imaging technique provides high-definition, real-time images of patients’ musculoskeletal systems without exposing them to radiation.

The new offering expands the hospital’s diagnostic imaging services.

Used to diagnose inflammation and degenerative and traumatic conditions of the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and cartilage, the system is a viable alternative for patients unable to undergo an MRI procedure due to a metal implant or other reasons.

“For a range of reasons, patients might not be able to have an MRI,” says Dr. Tejas Dalal, medical director of musculoskeletal imaging at McLaren Macomb. “Dynamic imaging is a very important aspect of MSK ultrasound. It is a great diagnostic tool to evaluate tendons, ligaments, and muscles around the ankle, knee, hip, hand, elbow, and shoulder for acute injuries and other pathologies.”

Sometimes symptoms only show with movement, which ultrasound imaging can catch. The new ultrasound can also help physicians guide therapeutic injections and aspirations of joints, muscles, and tendons and evaluate inflammation by detecting increased blood flow in soft tissues using Doppler imaging.

Ultrasounds use sound waves given off from a handheld transducer probe, which bounces off bone and tissue to create images of them and the surrounding tissue. Physicians can move the probe to gain multiple views and angles of internal areas.

The technique also eliminates the need for contrast dye often used in imaging procedures that may cause side effects.

McLaren Macomb is a 288-bed health care provider.