Transthoracic Echocardiogram (TTE)

The first test is known as the standard echocardiogram. It uses the same type of instrument as that used in a fetal ultrasound, the handheld transducer. The echo tech will first tape electrodes to the patient’s arms, legs and chest to record his or her heart rate during the test. Then the tech will place colorless gel on the chest, where the transducer will be placed. The transducer transmits high frequency sound waves (aka ultrasound), which bounce off the heart structures. The sound waves produce images and sounds that the physician can use to detect heart damage and disease.

Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)

The transesophageal test differs from the TTE in the way the transducer is used. In the TEE, the echo tech will use a much

Results from a transesophageal echocardiogram.

smaller transducer that is hooked to an endoscope, a tube that is inserted down the throat into the esophagus (the tube you swallow with). This procedure is performed with anesthesia to make the patient as comfortable as possible.

Since the esophagus is located very close to the heart, the TEE provides clear images of the heart structures free of chest and lung interference. It is often combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler techniques to evaluate blood flow across the heart’s valves.

Stress Echocardiogram

This is an echo performed while the patient exercises on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. It is used to examine the heart’s walls and pumping action when the heart is under stress. For a more in-depth explanation of the stress echo, check out our stress echocardiography page.

Dobutamine Stress Echocardiogram

Dobutamine replaces exercise in a dobutamine stress echocardiogram to stimulate the heart to see how it reacts under stress.

The dobutamine echo follows the same logic as the stress echo, but if the patient is unable to access a treadmill or stationary bicycle, the physician will administer dobutamine. Dobutamine is a drug that stimulates the heart, making it “think” that it is exercising. This test evaluates how a patient’s heart tolerates activity, the likelihood that the patient will develop coronary artery disease and the effectiveness of his or her current cardiac treatment plan.

Intravascular Ultrasound

The intravascular ultrasound is performed during a cardiac catherization. A catherization is a procedure during which the physician inserts a thin plastic tube into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. The tube is then advanced to the heart.

To conduct the ultrasound, a transducer is threaded into the heart’s blood vessel via the catheter. This test is often used to yield detailed information about atherosclerosis – a condition involving clot formation and narrowing of blood vessels.

The resulting image from an intravascular ultrasound.

For more information on echocardiography schools, resources, and jobs, visit www.echocardiographer.net/.

Echocardiography Atlas, a mobile application that allows you to view examples of normal and abnormal echocardiograms, is a very useful tool to help with your cardiac sonography training. The unique insights and familiarity it provides in cardiac diagnoses can help you get an echocardiography job.

Echocardiography Information Anywhere, Anytime

Echocardiography Atlas provides a powerful and convenient way to learn about echocardiography and become proficient in diagnostic interpretation. The editor of the app, Scott D. Solomon, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says,

“Cardiovascular ultrasound technology is advancing swiftly, which leads to better patient care and, ultimately, more lives saved. Interactive imaging applications that can be carried conveniently on a mobile device unlock new opportunities concerning clinical training and patient education.”

No matter where you are, as long as you have your iPhone, iPod, or iPad, you can access 250 annotated images and 189 videos with this app, encompassing a wide variety of cardiac pathology.  Though the $19.99 price tag may seem a bit steep in the age of free information, the ability to access it anywhere (content is locally stored so no need for wireless connection), and the amount of content and interactivity it offers make Atlas a valuable resource for someone trying to launch their echocardiography career. With more traditional study programs offered at $100 or more, this training tool seems a bargain.

Features

The app is organized into 12 main chapters including:

• The Normal Exam
• Aortic Valve Disease
• Mitral Valve Disease
• Tricuspid and Pulmonary Valve Disease
• Myocardial Infarction
• Cardiomyopathy
• Diseases of the Aorta and Pericardium
• Diseases of the Atria
• Congenital Heart Disease in the Adult
• Diseases of the Right Ventricle
• Infectious Endocarditis
• Transesophageal Echocardiography

Search chapters for specific terms or navigate by selecting a given key topic. For each key topic you can find well-annotated and labeled images. The app also allows you to pause, watch frame-by-frame, zoom, and pan within highly interactive looping videos. These visual references give you a hands-on way to become more acquainted with what to look for when interpreting echocardiograms.

Another helpful feature in Echocardiography Atlas is the ability to bookmark certain topics for quick reference. If you are having trouble with a certain subject, bookmark it and easily go back at any time

Effective App

Whether you are still training or actively looking for an echocardiography job, this is a fun yet effective resource. Though you may not be able to put down Echocardiography Atlas on your resume, the knowledge it provides will certainly enhance your qualifications.

But for those who’d like a deeper look into the definition of echocardiography and its history – look no further than this entry.

What is Echocardiography?

Thanks to the ever-developing world of science, an echocardiogram is an ultrasound that provides both one and two-dimensional imaging to examine the heart. Echo techs can use an echocardiogram to display a cross-sectional “slice” of the beating heart.

When a patient receives a basic echo, or resting echo, their echo tech will place sticky patches, or electrodes, to the chest and

A transducer, which is used to measure the ultrasound for an echo test.

shoulders. These patches help record the echocardiogram, also known as the EKG or ECG. Then, the specialist will apply a colorless gel to the chest and uses the echo transducer, the part of the machine that will directly take the images of the heart, to record different parts of the chest. This results in several views of the heart.

We’ve Got the Pictures. Now What?

Once the tech has finished gathering the recordings, its time to examine the organ. The test gives the physician information about the size and shape of the heart. This information includes:

• How the chambers and valves are working
• Pumping function
• Identifying areas of the heart muscle that aren’t functioning properly due to poor blood flow or injury from previous heart attacks
• Detecting possible blood clots, fluid buildup and problems with the aorta

An echo tech gives a patient a standard, resting echocardiogram.

Cardiac sonography is not just for patients considered at risk for heart problems, like the elderly, the overweight and those who have a family history of heart disease. It’s also safe and painless enough to use to detect problems in infants and children and pediatric echocardiography is field in its own right.

How Did Echocardiography Come to Be?

This technique is a relatively new one in the medical world. The following is a timeline of major events that led to cardiac sonography as it is today.

Mid-19^th Century – Johann Christian Doppler discovers the Doppler sound effects – begins the premise for sonographic imagery.

1881 – Jacques and Pierre (husband of Marie) Curie discover the principle of piezoelectricity – another stepping stone to creating the ultrasound.

1903 – Willem Einthoven records the first ECG waves, thus developing the very first electrocardiogram. This discovery heralds cardiology’s status as a medical specialty. Those who knew how to conduct and use an electrocardigram were known as cardiovascular specialists.

1941 – Karl T. Dussikwasthe becomes the first to use an ultrasound machine, using it to examine the brain.

1950 – WD Keidel is the first to use an ultrasound to examine the heart.

1952 – JJ Wilde, JM Reid, D. Howry and W. Bliss develop the first two-dimensional ultrasound system, but didn’t attempt to use it on the heart.

1953 – Physician Inge Edler and engineer C. Hellmuth Hertz borrow a shipyard sonar machine to conduct the first human echocardiogram.

1960 – Echocardiography becomes more widely accepted as a method of cardiovascular research.

1963 – Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum, hailed as the “Father of Echocardiography” takes an unused echoencephalography machine and uses it to record cardiac images, rather than its original intent, to record images of the brain.

Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum (left), is known as the “Father of Echocardiography” and founder of the American Society of Echocardiography.

1965 – Chuck Haine, a physician at Indiana University, becomes the first cardiac sonographer.

1971 – N. Born and Paul Hugenholtz introduce the first two-dimensional scanner to produce multi-dimensional echocardiography.

1973 – Echocardiography is included as a searchable term in Index Medicus.

1975 – Feigenbaum founds the American Society of Echocardiography.

Keep an eye out for the next part of this two-part series, which will take a look into the various specialties of echocardiography.

The Rise of Opportunities in Echocardiography

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, opportunities in echocardiography jobs are expected to increase by 24 percent by 2018. In 2008, 49,500 individuals were employed in the field of echocardiography, and this number is expected to jump to 61,400 within the next decade.

Echocardiographers

Specializing in noninvasive heart and vessel procedures, echocardiographers use ultrasound and sonograph technology to examine heart chambers, valves, and vessels. Echocardiographers are often referred to as cardiac sonographers.

Salaries

The average echocardiographer earns between $32,800 and $61,580 a year. Considering the initial investment into training and education, this seems to be a relatively high salary compared to other associates degree level jobs.

Echocardiography Schools and Programs

Most individuals pursuing a career in echocardiography attend a two-year college, in which the first year is dedicated to general education courses, and the second year provides instruction in noninvasive or invasive cardiovascular technology.

Individuals can also attend an accredited cardiovascular technology education program. There are currently over 30 programs approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Professionals.

Top Echocardiography Schools:

• Mayo School of Health Services
• University of Kansas
• ATI College
• Hudson Valley Community College
• Georgia Northwestern Technical College
• John Hopkins Hospital School
• Ogeechee Technical College

Hot Spots for Echocardiography

Approximately 77 percent of echocardiography jobs are located in hospitals. However, positions do exist in physician offices, laboratories, and diagnostic imaging centers.

States with the Best Echocardiography Opportunities:

• Michigan
• Florida
• Texas
• California
• New York

For the latest information on echocardiography and echocardiographer opportunities, visit www.echocardiographer.net.

In recent times there has been a great increase in the number of colleges and institutes of higher learning that offer echocardiography as a program of study.

Most of the programs only require a high school diploma or GED and offer not only class room instruction, but also practical training in hospitals and professional medical settings.

Any echocardiography professional will tell you that experience is extremely important in becoming a successful practitioner.

Echocardiographer.net has highlighted some schools from across the nation that offers echocardiography –

Certificate, diploma and associate of applied science degrees are best suited for persons who have no echocardiography experience and never worked within the field of sonography or cardiac technology.

The courses and programs are suited for people who are already involved in the field of medicine, either as a sonography or other cardiovascular technician, and are wishing to switch over to become an echocardiographer.

The best part about these featured schools is that they are all accredited and allow students to be eligible to sit for the national certification examinations administered by Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) and the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) registry in Cardiology. This makes graduates of these programs employable as entry-level Echocardiographers as soon as they pass the ARDMS exam.

Now is the Best Time to Study Echocardiography

According to the US Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of cardiovascular technologists, such as echocardiographers and echo- technicians, is expected to increase by 26 per cent through 2016 – which is must faster than the average for all occupations.

They credit the growth to the aging population and because older people have a higher incidence of heart disease and other heart complications of the heart and vascular system. Procedures like ultrasound and echo-graphs are being performed more often as a replacement for more expensive and more invasive procedures.

Fall Registration Ends Soon!

If you are seriously interested in studying echocardiography at any of these institutes in the fall, now is the time to apply.

Visit the Echo Tech Schools link at the Echocardiographer.net website to get more information about applying. Many schools use the traditional two-semester school term and may offer financial aid to those who quality.

For more information about Echocardiography and Echo Tech Schools, visit the main page at www.echocardiographer.net

We have found this to be a better job search than others we have found and hope you agree!

Please feel free to leave us your feedback on the job search system we have integrated! We are eager to hear your thoughts.

You can find the job search under the “Jobs” tab on the site or click here.

With the current economic situation, it is hard to be interested in studying echocardiography and attending school while having to work a full time job. According to the US Department of Labor, employment of diagnostic echo cardiographers is expected to increase by about 19 percent through 2016—faster than the average among occupations. As the population ages, the demand for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic technology is higher.

Fortunately, candidates interested in studying echocardiography should know that the future of education is moving online and many majors and fields of study are available solely on the internet and works at the student’s pace and time.

Echocardiography and cardiac ultrasound training is one of those fields that is finding its place on many schools’ online education curriculum.

Online Instruction

Learning basic ECHO is easy online, and is great for getting a feel for what the career entails. Using online classes is tailored to the student’s interest and schedule. Courses can begin immediately and unlike traditional college, you don’t have to commute or commit to an entire course load if you do not want to.

Studying echocardiography through an internet course is instructor driven, so you are never left to study materials by yourself. In addition to an online instructor answering questions, the course may include textbooks or online e-books available to download.

What You Will Learn

An introduction to basic echocardiography includes the fundamentals of the field of echocardiography and cardiac ultrasound training.

The course work includes the basics of Doppler and transducers, physiology, anatomy, hemodynamics, physics and cardiovascular principles, electrophysiology, physical examination, patient history, color and spectral Doppler, M-Mode, cardiac calculations, imaging and Doppler techniques, protocols, disease states and basic echo interpretation.

The course generally uses a combination of extensive graphics, video and interactive exercises. Weekly quizzes are given to ensure you understand the material and the course ends with a final exam.——

Time Commitment

Typically classes of this nature have an online forum that is exclusively for students to discuss the echocardiography course materials and work. The average length of an online introductory echocardiography course is 12 weeks but each participant has the flexibility to work at a faster or slower pace if they choose. A certificate of completion is awarded after passing the individual sections and final exam. Enrolling in an introductory course to echocardiography allows you decide whether it is the health care career you would like to pursue because it involves learning about every element of diagnostic cardiac ultrasound training.

]]> http://www.echocardiographer.net/blog/echocardiography-education/study-echocardiography-online.php/feed 22 http://www.echocardiographer.net/blog/echocardiography-jobs/echocardiography-challenge.php http://www.echocardiographer.net/blog/echocardiography-jobs/echocardiography-challenge.php#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:17:46 +0000 Patrick http://www.echocardiographer.net/blog/?p=17 In today’s job market finding a job is not easy, even if you are qualified. In the echocardiography field credentials are paramount. Having a license is good, having a degree is better, and having either of those plus experience trumps the table.

Many schools offer an associate’s program which lasts two years and involves general knowledge and clinical practice. The bachelor’s program is a four year program which offers more general courses, more in-depth knowledge about related topics, and also clinical practice. The more education you have, the more marketable you are to those looking to hire echocardiographers.

Here’s a Freebee

Finding schools in one’s area can be difficult. It is a narrow career field but does have a growing need for certified and skilled workers. Often times finding a way to get the proper credentials is harder than landing a job. Two websites I found to be helpful in finding schools that offer the echocardiographer program are

· www.educationportal.com

· www.collegeanduniversity.net

These two sites will help locate schools and accreditation institutes by area.

Persistence and Perseverance Pique Interest!

Many schools are unlisted, but calls to local community colleges, Tech Institutes, and university medical departments can direct you to places that may have that program. Perseverance is the name of the game. Calling and stirring the interest will generate results. That interest combined with the growing need for qualified echocardiographers may cause more certification and degree programs to become available.

Network!

Also, do not be afraid to network. Going on forums and posting questions will pique interest and attract someone who has been in the school hunting position and can personally reference and direct you to a school that would suit you.

Finding the school that is the right fit and getting through the program will take an unwavering determination. Keep focused, happy hunting, and good luck!

Our Reader writes:

Someone I know recently graduated and became certified as a
Cardiac Sonographer.  It seems that all employers want 2 to 3 years
experience.  How to you get experience if no one will hire a new grad?
Any suggestions I can pass along?

Our Response:

Thanks for writing.  Many schools have placement services and I am sorry
to hear your friend is not getting help in this way.  Also, many jobs
result from internships and clinical experience.

I understand, that whole ‘experience’ thing can be tricky sometimes.
Creativity is the name of the game when the standard tactics aren’t
working.

1.  Your friend should contact all the facilities that are most likely to
need Echo services in the region (or out of the area if she can relocate).  Sometimes
positions come available for the right candidate with some perseverance.

2.  Another posssiblity is to take a part-time unpaid internship—and
sell her abilities once in the door, or use that experience on the resume for another
employer.

3.  Here’s another idea: Taking a position as a cardiac tech or medical assistance just
to get started, so that she is in the right place to help out the Echo
professionals on staff and to move right into the position when it opens up.

4.  I also strongly recommend that your friend get in touch with the
American Society of echocardiography for their recommendations and
assistance as well.  http://www.asecho.org.

Good luck and also ask your friend to sign on for our Echo Forums for
continuing advice and info.

Regards,
Cheryl McLeod
Director
Echocardiographer.net

Edit this entry.

SOPE
http://www.sope-online.com/index.html
admin@sope-online.com
1500 Sunday Drive, Ste 102
Raleigh, NC 27607
P: 919-787-5181 X235 F: 919-787-4916

Let the Society know your goals, where you live and wish to go to school or work,
your background, and this professional organization will advocate for you on your quest to become a skilled pedi echo practitioner….So go for it!  Your helpful comments are always appreciated on the Blog or Forum Communities.

Wishing you the best of success!

Cheryl McLeod
Echocardiographer.net

For lots more in-depth info on the growing field of echocardiography, check out the following topics at our main site:

Hot Echo Job Locations

Echocardiographer Salaries

Echocardiography Certificate

Cardiac Sonographer Education