The use of ultrasound in developing countries.

In many developing countries ultrasound services are either nonexistent or inadequate, although the diagnostic problems for which ultrasound is particularly suited are common in such countries. In view of this, the World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined the indications for diagnostic ultrasound together with the technical specifications for equipment. Where there are larger hospitals the basic ultrasound services should be complemented with the proposed general-purpose ultrasound scanner while at the level of major medical centres there will be need for a variety of special purpose ultrasonic units, e.g. for cardiac, intraluminal and interventional investigations. The usefulness of any ultrasound appliance depends to a great extent on the skill and experience of the operator. Therefore, WHO provides guidance on the training of general practitioner and expert sonographer that is necessary for proper implementations of this technology. In this review the authors discuss the various problems affecting the use of ultrasound in developing countries.