After nine years, it was time for the old ultrasound to be retired.
“It is like having a nine-year-old computer or cell phone, the old ultrasound just didn’t have the same level of imaging quality that the new one does,” said Dr. April Blong, clinical associate professor in the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital’s Emergency and Critical Care Services (ECC).
ECC has recently purchased a Philips ultrasound system through donations from the Keith Blunt Fund and the Companion Animal Fund.
Blong says with the new ultrasound the ECC medical team can see “more” and with additional detail than they could previously.
“We use the ultrasound all the time in the ICU,” Blong said. “Many emergency cases that come in are scanned to check for free fluid in the chest or abdomen, or pathology in the lungs.”
Trauma cases are the most frequent use of the ultrasound in the ER. It is also utilized for patients in respiratory distress, with an acute or painful abdomen, almost any unstable patient.
In those cases where the patient presents with challenging veins and arteries, the ultrasound is used to obtain vascular access. If swellings are present, the ultrasound helps determine if a fluid pocket is present, and if it is, help the medical team guide a needle into the area of interest for a sample.
“Our entire team is so thankful that we were able to upgrade our technology so that we can appropriately image our patients,” Blong said. “Most of us don’t go more than two, maybe three years without upgrading our phone, so you can imagine how different things are with a more complicated electronic device than we previously had.”
November 2025