Site Content

Ultrasound scanning is a great way of seeing what is going on in muscles, joints and tendons. It gives instantaneous images of what is happening inside the body and can be used while you are moving or using part of your body. 

Ultrasound requires both highly skilled and experienced operators and up to date equipment.

At One Stop Musculo-skeletal have been working with ultrasound for many years and currently using ultrasound  in both the private and NHS healthcare sectors.  Our equipment is modern and suitable for musculoskeletal scanning.

What is the difference between ultrasound, MRI, X-rays and CAT scans ?

Each of these investigations gives different  information and are used for different purposes. 

X-rays are commonly used to look for fractures or breaks of bones in the body. They do not show the soft tissues like muscles, ligaments, tendons or bursae clearly. They also expose the body to radiation, and their use should be kept to a minimum.

MRI scans have good soft tissue definition and can be used  to see tissues that can't be seen by ultrasound because they are too deep or hidden beneath bones. MRIs have the disadvantage that they are expensive, the results may take several days to come through and they cannot generally be used to look at structures while they are being used. They cannot generally be used to guide injections.

Ultrasound scans give fantastic definition of soft tissues provided the tissues are not too deep inside the body. As tissues get deeper then ultrasound gradually looses detail. It cannot see through bone, and when you are having a scan of a joint like the shoulder, you will  be asked to move your arm around to bring various parts of the shoulder out from underneath bone.

Ultrasound is extremely flexible and can be used in many different ways which other forms of investigation cannot. 

Ultrasound gives live images and can be used to watch what happens to tissues as you move them, this is a great advantage which ultrasound has over X-rays and MRI. 

Relative to X-rays and MRI scans it is inexpensive.

Ultrasound is extremely dependent on the skill of the clinician that is using it and if your having a scan it is essential that you find someone that is experienced and skilled in the use of ultrasound for musculoskeletal conditions. This is what we specialise in!

CAT scans are bit like a cross between an X-ray and an MRI scan. They use X-rays to build up a images in a complex way which gives slices or 3D images of structures in the body. They are not use a lot in muscle-skeletal assessments as they expose you to a high dose of ionising radiation. They are not generally as good as MRI for soft tissues like muscles and tendons.