ABSTRACT
Basic Principles of Ultrasound..............................................................................232 How Safe is Diagnostic Ultrasound for Reproduction? .......................................233 Ultrasonic Evaluation of the Ovarian Structures ..................................................235 Monitoring Uterine and Fetal Characteristics by Ultrasonic Imaging .................238 Additional Reproductive Applications for Ultrasonography in Cattle .................244 Summary ...............................................................................................................246 References..............................................................................................................246
O. J. Ginther stated: “gray-scale diagnostic ultrasonography is the most profound technological advance in the field of large animal research and clinical reproduction since the introduction of transrectal palpation and radioimmunoassay of circulating hormones” (Ginther, 1986). It is hard to imagine that many discoveries and procedures related to ovarian, uterine, and fetal function that we use today would have been considered without the development of real-time ultrasound. The research and commercial applications of ultrasound developed for reproduction over the last 15 years support Ginther’s statement.
