Emeritus Professor, Juntendo University School of Medicine. ; Recipient of the Japan Academy Prize in 2006.
Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci. 2007 Dec;83(8):256-65. doi: 10.2183/pjab/83.256.
In recent years, various types of diagnostic imaging methods, such as CT, MRI, PET and Ultrasound, have been developed rapidly and become indispensable as clinical diagnostic tools. Among these imaging modalities, CT, MRI and PET all apply electromagnetic waves like radiation rays. In contrast, an ultrasound imaging method uses a completely different mechanical pressure wave: "sound". Ultrasound has various features, including inaudible sound at very high frequencies, which allows its use in medical diagnoses. That is, ultrasound techniques can be applied in transmission, reflection and Doppler methods. Moreover, the sharp directivity of an ultrasound beam can also improve image resolution. Another big advantage of diagnostic ultrasound is that it does not harm the human body or cause any pain to patients. Given these various advantages, diagnostic ultrasound has recently been widely used in diagnosing cancer and cardiovascular disease and scanning fetuses (Fig. 1) as well as routine clinical examinations in hospitals. In this paper, I outline my almost 50-year history of diagnostic ultrasound research, particularly that performed at the early stage from 1950-56.
近年来，各种类型的诊断成像方法，如 CT、MRI、PET 和超声，迅速发展并成为临床诊断工具不可或缺的一部分。在这些成像方式中，CT、MRI 和 PET 都应用了像射线一样的电磁波。相比之下，超声成像是利用完全不同的机械压力波：“声”。超声具有各种特性，包括非常高频率的不可听声音，这使其可用于医学诊断。也就是说，超声技术可应用于透射、反射和多普勒方法。此外，超声束的尖锐指向性也可以提高图像分辨率。诊断超声的另一个大优势是它不会对人体造成伤害，也不会给患者带来任何痛苦。鉴于这些各种优势，诊断超声最近已被广泛用于诊断癌症和心血管疾病以及扫描胎儿（图 1）以及医院的常规临床检查。在本文中，我概述了我近 50 年的诊断超声研究历史，特别是在 1950-56 年早期进行的研究。
