How to set up a room for an ultrasound scan

A calm, well-prepared room makes the scan easier for the patient, for the person holding it and for you. Eight steps get you there.

1. Shut the blinds and turn off the lights. The image on the screen is easier to see, and a calmer room helps the patient relax and stay still.
2. Put down a vet bed so the dog is comfortable.
3. Lay the dog in right lateral, left lateral or dorsal recumbency, depending on the region you are scanning and on your own preference and experience.
4. Make the person restraining the patient comfortable. Give them a chair if that is possible and appropriate.
5. Restrain the patient: hold the front legs with one hand, with your arm resting over the neck, and the back legs with the other, pulling them caudally to give access to the caudal abdomen. With a large or particularly nervous or fractious patient, a second assistant helps: one person restrains the front end, the other the back.
6. Sit down to scan where you can. You will concentrate better and put less strain on your neck, back and wrist.
7. Place the machine where you can see the screen and reach the controls easily. Adjusting patient details, preset or exam type, frequency, depth, gain, time gain compensation and focus is then much simpler.
8. Hold the probe with your thumb or index finger on the marker. The marker on the probe corresponds to a marker on the screen (usually a dot, an arrow or the manufacturer’s initials at the top of the image), so you can manipulate the probe more effectively.

Now you, your patient and the person holding it are comfortable and ready to scan.