Ultrasound vs. Sonogram

Thought I would set the record straight. What is the difference between an ultrasound and a sonogram?

From what I can deduce after much research and speaking with two doctors. The procedure in which sound waves are bounced off an object is referred to as an ultrasound. The resulting picture is a sonogram. Most of the time the terms are used interchangeably and technically they mean the same thing, i.e. one uses ultrasound to create a sonogram.

ul·tra·sound
n.
1. Ultrasonic sound.
2. Medicine. The use of ultrasonic waves for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, specifically to image an internal body structure, monitor a developing fetus, or generate localized deep heat to the tissues.

son·o·gram
n.
An image, as of an unborn fetus or an internal body organ, produced by ultrasonography. Also called echogram, sonograph, ultrasonogram.

Posted by Molli at May 28, 2002 02:52 PM