Preface: Difference between revisions

It is challenging to find out who exactly were involved in the invention and development of ultrasound in general and echocardiography in particular. Facts are that a Frenchman, Martin Versenne (1588-1648) first estimated the sound of sound, and that in that time the physicist Robert Boyle (1627-1691) first noted that a medium is necessary for sound to travel. A few decades later, Abbe Lazarro Spallanzi (1727-1799) proved that bats use ultrasound to navigate.  

The first practical use of ultrasound, using the piezoelectric crystal developed by the brothers Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie in 1880, saw light in the the first World War. Sonar was developed to detect enemy ships, and later, in 1929 Sokolov used this 'sonar' to detect flaws in metal. It was this use that developed in a valuable addition to the diagnostic arsenal of the physician. Where in the early years after the second world war anamnesis, physical examination and the electrocardiogram were the only tools for the doctor with a cardiological patient, currently, echocardiography has developed to an invaluable tool for diagnosing several cardiac diseases.