MIDLAND, Texas — For sonographers, the rhythm of life is a common sound.
“It’s really nice to give them that relief when they hear the heartbeat and know that everything's OK," Krista Geesaman, ultrasound technologist at Midland Memorial Hospital said. "So just hearing that sigh of relief is really rewarding.”
It is rewarding for soon-to-be moms, too.
“Being able to see him and know that he’s OK, it definitely puts me at ease to know that nothing is wrong," Danielle Luera, 35 weeks pregnant with her second son, said. "To know that he’s growing healthy and everything is how it should be.”
Every 30 minutes MMH uses ultrasound technology to help people, which is around 350 ultrasounds a month.
It is non-invasive and does not use any radiation. In the past decade, the imaging has gotten more advanced and given doctors and nurses a clearer picture of anatomy.
“Ultrasounds are always changing," Geesaman said. "The major way it’s changing is the amount of detail that we can see now."
Geesaman says sonographers can look at a heart and see not only the four chambers but also the vessels coming out of the heart. They can also see some of the brain structures and how they are developing.
But sonograms are not just used for pregnancy purposes.
“The most common is probably of the abdomen area," Geesaman said. "The liver, his kidneys, the pancreas, the bladder, we also do the thyroids, general gynecology exam, looking at uterus and the ovaries.”
With a high demand for sonographers, Midland Memorial is looking to the future.
“They try to stay up-to-date and have newer machines and encouraging continuing education," Geesaman said.
Midland College has a lot of students that rotate through the sonography program.
"They’re trying to educate the next generation sonographers.”
The application for a year-long sonography program at Midland College can be found here.
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