What is an Ultrasound Probe?

An ultrasound probe, also known as a transducer, is a medical diagnostic device that emits ultrasound waves into a patient's body and transmits data to a computer to produce an internal image of the body, known as a sonogram. Ultrasound waves bounce off of tissue masses and boundaries in the body, and these echoes are recorded by the ultrasound probe and interpreted by the computer, which then creates the sonogram on a monitor. The ultrasound probe is generally placed directly on the patient's body and moved over the area to be viewed. Since water is a good conductor for sound waves, a water-based gel is usually placed on the patient's skin to help facilitate movement of the ultrasound waves, and patients undergoing obstetric ultrasound are usually asked to arrive for the test with a full bladder.