#TechTipTuesday: 5 Easy Tricks to Avoid Ultrasound Transducer Damage

By Kaylee McCaffrey, Biomedical Engineering Solutions Sales Specialist 

It's #TechTipTuesday! Welcome to our weekly series where we ask members of the biomedical community about their tips and recommendations for maintaining medical equipment. This week we’re asking, “What tips do you have when it comes to maintaining ultrasound probes?” 

5 Easy Tricks to Avoid Damage to Your Ultrasound Transducer 

This week, we asked Carol Porter, Probe Repair Supervisor at Avante Health Solutions’ Center of Excellence in Charlotte, N.C., for her tips on properly maintaining ultrasound transducers in the field. Read Carol’s advice below: 

1. When carrying your probe from one station to the next, always carry the probe by the connector and scan head. When you transport a probe by the cable, you raise your risk for impact damage.
2. Follow manufacturers advice on disinfecting procedures. Over soaked probes weaken the seals, yellow the cables, sometimes causes swelling of the lens, and in some cases delamination.
3. When moving your ultrasound system around, make sure all your probe’s cables are off the floor to avoid being run over by the castors which will cause broken wires.
4. During studies, make sure you are not pulling too tightly on the cable at the housing strain relief, this can result in broken wires. Especially in cardiac probes using CW mode, if broken wires are present you will have CW noise.
5. Always check the electrical safety (leakage) of the probe before putting on the system.  If the seals around the lens/housing are open, fluid can travel down the inside of the cable and into the connector. When engaged on the system, this can burn boards on both the system and in the transducer. More common in the GE IC5-9D probes.

Share Your Own Tips on LinkedIn!  

Huge thanks to Carol for giving us today's tips on recommended ultrasound transducer handling techniques! Want to join the conversation and add your own expertise? Be sure to follow me on LinkedIn and comment on today's #TechTipTuesday post. See you next week!