Small Animal Pregnancy/Abdomen

For small animal pregnancy and abdominal scanning a small transducer contact area (footprint) is desirable because it enables use of small acoustic windows such as intercostals spaces, and it makes it easier to indent the abdominal wall with the transducer, necessary for bringing small structures into the focal zone of higher frequency transducers.

For cats, small dogs and superficial structures a 5.0 to 7.5MHz variable receive frequency transducer is recommended. A 4.0 to 6.0MHz variable receive frequency transducer is suitable for most medium to large sized dogs. A variable focal zone can help maximise ultrasound examination quality.

The complement of adjustable controls varies between systems, however, examples of appropriate settings for abdominal ultrasonography that enhance detection of variations in non-specular echoes include; low reject level, a high dynamic range, a low frame rate (unless breath motion is rapid), low contrast post-processing option and careful adjustment of time-gain compensation.