Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

Musculoskeletal ultrasound precisely targets muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and joints, creating the images your physician needs to diagnose the reason for your pain and create personalized treatments. Invision Sally Jobe offers MSK ultrasounds at their offices in Golden and Southwest Littleton, Colorado. Their expert sub-specialized MSK radiologists dictate your MSK Ultrasound Exam. Call 720-493-3700 to  speak with the Invision Sally Jobe Patient Team about scheduling an appointment with an order from your provider.

What is musculoskeletal ultrasound?

Musculoskeletal ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to take images of your muscles and the soft tissues in your joints, including ligaments, tendons, and nerves.

Anyone with musculoskeletal pain and inflammation can have ultrasound imaging because it’s noninvasive, painless, and doesn’t send radiation into your body.

What happens during an ultrasound?

Your Invision Sally Jobe sonographer places ultrasound gel on your skin above the targeted tissues and then puts a handheld probe (transducer) against your skin. As they move the transducer over your skin, it sends sound waves into your body.

The sound waves bounce off the tissues they encounter and return to the transducer. The transducer transmits the echoing waves to a computer, which is converted into the data required to create an image in real-time. An MSK Radiologist at Radiology Imaging Associates will review and interpret the images for diagnosis. 

When would I need a musculoskeletal ultrasound?

Ultrasound depicts the soft tissue anatomy of muscles, tendons, joints, and ligaments. Dynamic maneuvers allow the technologist to assess the functionality of these structures in real-time. Color Doppler imaging may be used to assess the blood flow within these areas. Your doctor can use the technology to diagnose many possible muscle and joint problems, including:

• Bursitis
• Tendon tears (including Achilles tendon injuries)
• Tendinitis (inflamed tendons)
• Ligament tears and sprains
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Nerve entrapment (like carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Soft tissue masses
• Rheumatic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis,

Because musculoskeletal ultrasound shows images and movement in real-time, it’s often used to guide treatments like joint injections.

What should I know about musculoskeletal MRI?

Your doctor may order magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instead of an ultrasound, depending on the tissues he needs to evaluate. MRIs produce images using a magnetic field and radio waves, so you don’t need to worry about radiation whether you have an ultrasound or MRI.

MRIs and ultrasound both create detailed images of soft tissues. Ultrasound is preferred for smaller areas, while MRIs can easily capture images of large areas. For example, your doctor may order a musculoskeletal ultrasound for a tendon in your hand but get an MRI if he needs to see your entire arm.

Ultrasound can show the outer bone surface but can’t penetrate to capture the inner bone. An MRI reveals details about the entire bone. Additionally, MRI scans produce clear images of tissues deep in your body, while ultrasound is better for tissues closer to the surface.

Call Invision Sally Jobe at 720-493-3700 to schedule a musculoskeletal MRI today.