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Turn on the machine. Apply acoustic coupling gel. Start scanning. In the realm of the busy veterinary general practice, emergency clinic, or intensive care unit, that statement really sums up the basic use of ultrasound. Just as it is natural for us to take the stethoscope from around our neck and place it on a patient's thorax, so should be picking up the ultrasound probe and placing it on the patient. No wonder that ultrasonography has been appropriately dubbed both “an extension of the physical exam” and the “modern stethoscope” (Rozycki et al. 2001; Filly 1988). Really, one doesn't need a whole lot of instruction to start scanning; however, as for a lot of things in life, the devil is in the details. Understanding how the ultrasound image is formed (Physics), understanding inherent physical limitations (Artifacts), and knowing how to acquire the image (Technique) are the keys to acquiring and interpreting the diagnostic ultrasound image.

The focus of this and the following several chapters is a brief review of the basic physics and principles of ultrasound, including the more common problematic artifacts. For interested readers, there are more comprehensive textbooks dedicated to the physics and interpretation of ultrasound imaging (Nyland et al. 2002; Penninck 2002; Bushberg et al. 2002).