Deborah Thomas, ultrasound supervisor in the 59th Radiology Squadron (left), performs an obstetrical ultrasound on Staff Sgt. Erika Haskins at Lackland’s Wilford Hall Medical Center. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Erin M. Peterson

By Deborah A. Thomas
59th Radiology Squadron

Diagnostic ultrasound started as a subspecialty of radiology, however many other specialists now utilize ultrasound in their daily practice.

In the early 1970s, ultrasound was used primarily for evaluating pregnancies and abnormalities of some abdominal organs. Modern ultrasound equipment is so advanced that fine detail of small structures, such as tendons, can now be visualized with high-frequency ultrasound transducers. With the advancement of 3D and 4D ultrasound, diagnostic ultrasound studies are providing information to clinicians that once could only be seen by Computed Tomography, or CT scans, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI.

The San Antonio Military Medical Center-South, or Wilford Hall Medical Center, ultrasound laboratory is the largest within the Department of Defense and uses the most modern equipment currently available.

The lab performs 14,000 exams annually using six procedure rooms for abdominal, vascular, superficial, obstetrics and gynecology studies. Technologists provide on-call service after hours in response to medical emergencies.

Ultrasound is one of the most challenging imaging modalities to learn. Sonographers are responsible for independent operation of equipment, performing the exam, recognizing normal and abnormal structures, and communicating results to interpreting physicians.

The Air Force identified the need to train radiology technologists as far back as the late 1980s. Wilford Hall was the only site at that time to provide hands-on training for radiology technologists. In 1991, the Air Force offered a more standardized eight-week course with only two training sites available to meet increasing demands for sonographers.

Finally, the ultrasound course evolved to a six-month course. Phase one, which lasts two months, is taught at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Phase two, which lasts four months, is taught at Lackland; Nellis AFB, Nev.; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Scott AFB, Ill., the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; Travis AFB, Calif.; and Keesler AFB, Miss.

The course is accredited for 38 semester hours by the Community College of the Air Force. Since the six-month course was started, 155 airmen have graduated. Upon graduation from the course and performing ultrasound full-time for one year, candidates are eligible to take the ultrasound physics and specialty exams offered by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers to become certified.