Private ultrasound scans London - Blog

Fatty liver is a very common ultrasound finding. Find out how stopping alcohol for October can help your liver recover.

October is Medical Ultrasound awareness month aiming to create awareness of the role diagnostic medical sonographers play in the medical community and to educate the public about medical ultrasound and its many uses in healthcare. Most people still associate ultrasound with baby ultrasound scans. Medical ultrasound, however, has much wider uses in the medicine and it is being used to diagnose or exclude a wide of abnormalities such problems with the liver, uterus and ovaries, breasts, testes and even heart.

 

What is ultrasound?

Medical ultrasound (also known as diagnostic sonography or ultrasonography) is a medical imaging technique that uses sound waves to produce images of internal body structures. Most of the people are aware of the navy sonar being used to track items in the sea. The sonar uses high-frequency sound waves that bounce from objects and return to the transmitter that becomes a receiver. This is the same principle with the radar that is being used to spot aeroplanes in the sky and the infamous speed cameras.

The sonar technology, therefore, has been adapted to be used in medical imaging so the sonographer or radiologists can visualise internal body structures.

 

An article published in the Daily Mail on 28th of July with the title: 'How could a doctor tell us our baby had DIED in the womb? Couple's fury after 'miscarriage' scan blunder almost led them to abort their healthy daughter', describes how a baby came close to being aborted when the parents told that the baby had died in the early weeks of pregnancy.

The couple were given the devastating news that the mother suffered early fetal demise at 6 weeks gestation during an early pregnancy scan. The scan was performed by a reputable ultrasound clinic in London that specialises in baby scans.

You can read the full article here.

We would like to reassure our pregnant mothers that in our London ultrasound clinic our sonographers follow the latest guidelines from NICE, ISUOG and BMUS and that we are not trying to cut corners by offering substandard cheap private scans.

The NICE guidelines for diagnosing viable intrauterine pregnancy using ultrasound are as follows:

 

Prudential RideLondon cycling event will take place on Saturday 28th of July in central London and on Sunday 29th of July in closed roads in the east, central and south-west London, and in parts of Surrey.

As the London cycling event involves road closures and the London transport system will be significantly busier than usual this can affect your travelling time to our ultrasound clinic in Harley Street.

According to Transport for London:

Travel disruption and advice during the RideLondon EventDrivers

Road closures will impact more than the immediate Prudential RideLondon event routes, which cannot be crossed by vehicles. Drivers are advised to, wherever possible, avoid areas near and around the event routes as follows:

8 facts you didn’t know about Harley Street, the most prestigious medical community in London.

 

Most of the people all over the world have heard about Harley Street, the most prestigious centre of high-quality private clinics in London. There are however 8 facts however that not many people know about. The private clinics and therapy rooms stretching from Cavendish Square Gardens near Oxford Street to the south as far as Marylebone Road and Regent’s Park in the North, nearly a kilometre in length.Harley Street is situated in close proximity to some of London’s main railway stations, such as Kings Cross and Paddington, Harley Street is highly accessible.  Fact 1.Harley Street takes his name from Edward Harley the 2nd Earl of Oxford and with many of the roads named after him and his family. In 1715, he began building the houses on Harley Street and surrounding streets, such as Cavendish Square. After his death, the estate was inherited by his daughter who married the Duke of Portland that nearby Portland Street took its names off. Fact 2.Harley Street is owned de Walden family and managed by the Howard de Walden Estate.  Fact 3.It was an appeal the mid-19th century that Cavendish Square became a prestigious location for physicians’ consulting rooms and doctors began to colonise the southern end of Harley Street in order to be near the square.  Fact  4.The Medical Society of London opened in Chandos Street in 1873 then the Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street in 1912 and remained there since then. Fact 5.Harley Street has accommodated a number of famous medical professionals and celebrities such as:  Sir Joseph Lister, the pioneer in antiseptic surgery lived just around the corner from Harley Street at 12 Park Crescent. Lister promoted the idea of sterile surgery which led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients.  Florence Nightingale, the “lady with the lamp” moved to Harley Street in 1853 to become superintendent of a gentlewomen’s nursing home located at No. 1 Harley Street. King George VI was treated for severe stammer by Lionel Logue a speech therapist based in 146 Harley street. The film based on the story, The King’s Speech, was filmed nearby on Portland Place.Stephen Hawking also sought help here after he was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease.  Fact 6.In 1860, there were around 20 medical practices existed on the street. In the Georgian period, there were over 200 doctors based in Harley Street. Today, there are more than 5,000 medical specialists operating out of what is known as the Harley Street Medical Area (HSMA). Fact 7.Sir Frederick Teves based at Harley Street, performed the world’s first ever appendectomy, to save the life of Edward VII shortly before his coronation. Fact 8It is well known that clients perceive Harley Street as the place to go to find the best healthcare professionals and more than 10% of Harley Street clients travelled to be treated from abroad. So next time you visit our private ultrasound clinic, take the time to walk along Harley Street and enjoy the history and the architecture of the area. Visit Our Private Ultrasound Clinic:

Address: The Hale Clinic,

4 Harley Street,                                                                                                                    

Marylebone, London,

W1G 9PB

 What is the Cost of private ultrasound in Harley Street, London?

The main reason of having a private scan in London is to jump the NHS que that can be up to 6 weeks. Other than faster diagnosis and treatments people choose to have a private scan due to the flexibility od choosing a date and time that doesnt not affect their working life and plans.

Many people want to know what a private ultrasound cost is in London, but unfortunately there is no quick answer. Well, there is, but the answer is "it depends…….!"

The private scan prices reported online by Private Health in London  and mainly in Harley street where we are located ranging from £180 to £400 with an average price of £327 for the private abdominal scan.

Some websites from ultrasound clinics that offer private scans in London advertise ultrasound prices starting from £30. It does makes you however wonder what you get for your money.

In one of the private scan clinics in London you get a 10mins scan ... This raises concerns about the diagnostic accuracy of these scans. Would you trust them with your and your loved ones lives?

Lunch Time Ultrasound Scans in the heart of London - Harley Street

Our private scan clinic in London's Harley Street is always at the forefront of customer care and we are extremely happy to announce that after popular demand, we are now able to offer ultrasound scans during your lunch break. We are always doing our best to offer you flexible scan appointments around your schedule and now we are able to offer you the flexibility of giving your ultrasound scan during your lunch break.

Our clinic is located in the busiest part from London just a couple of minutes walk from Oxford Street and Regent Street and quite often our clients work locally requested scans on their lunch time. Unfortunately we were not able to fulfil their request until now.

As of this week you can book a convenient private scan during your lunchtime between the hours o12 and 2pm. This will help to significantly reduce the convenience associated with waiting to hear of your appointment after work and probably missing the train back home.

You can book your private ultrasound scan by using our online booking system or by calling our clinic. Please also remember that some scans such as the abdominal ultrasound scan requires at least 4 hours fasting.

 

Walk-in Ultrasound - Harley Street, London

It is very common for clients to walk in our ultrasound clinic in Harley Street, London to check for any available scan slots, especially on their lunch breaks as our clinic is located in the heart of London. 

We do understand that it is not always possible to wait and schedule a private ultrasound and we always do our best to accommodate any walk-in clients. 

Sometimes, however, this may not be possible due to fully booked schedule. There are also multiple ultrasound exams that some preparation may be necessary and if you, therefore, come prepared the ultrasound examination may be unsatisfactory and won’t be able to give you the answers you’re looking for. A repeat scan might be necessary in these cases.

As will always do our utmost to offer same day scans to clients who need them and to avoid disappointment the best way to check our availability and if we can accommodate any walk-in clients is to either check our online booking system or give us a call on 020 3633 4902.

The Pride in London parade is an event to raise awareness to the world about issues affecting every part of London’s LGBT+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning, intersex, non-binary, asexual polysexual, genderqueer and gender variant people).

The parade is the biggest LGBT+ parade in the UK with thousands of people’s traveling to London and last year pulled an estimated crowd of nearly 1 million people.

Pride in London is run entirely by volunteers with support from the Mayor of London, Westminster City Council, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service.

Alongside the parade they will be multiple events scheduled in various locations in London:

Trafalgar Square Stage, where the parade will finish has confirmed multiple famous guests such as Sophie Ellis-Bextor and The Mayor of London.

An ultrasound scan uses sound waves to obtain internal images of the body. In some of the ultrasound examinations, you require to prepare before the scan. Our clients regularly ask us why they need to prepare.

The main ultrasound examinations that need preparation is the abdominal scan and the pelvic scan.

 

Can you eat or drink before an abdominal ultrasound?

 For the abdominal scan, you need to fast for at least four hours. In some Private Ultrasound clinics and in the NHS you require to fast for at least six hours.  There is widespread inaccurate information online regarding the length of fasting for an abdominal scan. For example, Healthline recommends 12 hours fasting which is nothing more than outdated,  cruel and unnecessary. 

 

You are having an ultrasound scan or your doctor recommended a colour Doppler, duplex or triplex scan. It is normal to get confused as these are not terms that you use every day. On this post, we will try to demystify some of the terms related to ultrasound scanning.

Ultrasound was discovered in 1880 by Jacques and Pierre Curie and its first application was to detect submarines in 1917. In 1956, a team led by Obstetrician Ian Donald and engineer Tom Brown develop the first ultrasound machine to be used in clinical practice. As you can imagine the first applications of ultrasound were primarily in baby scanning. By the end of the 20th century, ultrasound scans were extensively used in maternity clinics.

Initially, the ultrasound images used to be black and white – and still are. These images are called 2D images as being two-dimensional.

 

Doppler Ultrasound

Colour Doppler or colour flow Doppler, that was discovered by Christian Doppler in 1841, is the technology to visualize blood flow during an ultrasound scan. Colour flow is being used all the time these days as it helps to differentiate between different structures, for example, a blood vessel and a cyst that can have the similar appearance on ultrasound. It helps to evaluate the vascularity of a tumour found for example in the breast scan, pelvic scan or liver scan. It helps to evaluate vascularity of whole organs such as in the thyroid scan in cases of thyroiditis.

The General Medical Council gave a UK General Practioner an official warning for failing to diagnose leg deep vein thrombosis on a patient. The patient consequently died from pulmonary embolism.

The patient from Newbury saw the GP, Dr Stiff multiple times with concerns about deep vein thrombosis. The General Medical Council investigation concluded that Dr Stiff  failed to adequately assess the patient's swollen ankle and failed to refer the patient for further investigations to exclude deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The GP performed a Deep vein thrombosis ultrasound scan of the leg, despite the fact that he had failed to maintain a record of any continuing professional development in ultrasound scanning since 2002.

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre where Dr. Stiff works issued a statement saying:

"Having been this patient’s general practitioner for many years, Dr. Stiff is sorry for and fully understands the distress that this patient’s death will have caused her family."

Unfortunately failing to diagnose deep-vein thrombosis happens too often and it is unacceptable when you consider that a simple 10 minutes DVT ultrasound scan can diagnose the disease and save the patient's life. Dr Stiff performed a DVT ultrasound scan on the patient, he did not, however, have the experience and knowledge required to definitely exclude or confirmed a DVT.

How a private ultrasound scan can diagnose thyroid cancer and save your life.

 

We saw lately in the news how a GP failed to refer a lady for a neck and thyroid ultrasound scan after she complained about a lump in the neck. Unfortunately, the patient later dies from thyroid cancer. 

The patient visited the GP with a newly lump presented in her neck. After multiple visit in a period of 6 months, concerned that the lump was increasing in size, the GP decided to refer her for an ultrasound scan.

When eventually the patient had the scan and consequent FNA the lump diagnosed as an inoperative thyroid cancer and the patient subsequently died.

This is another sad story, heard too often. The same happened to 2 other patients that doctors missed blood clots and the patients died. You can read these stories here and here.

We are delighted to introduce our revolutionary NEW High-Performance Ultrasound scanner, with its exceptional ultrasound scan image resolution, it aids fast and accurate diagnosis. We can offer prompt ultrasound appointment times and facilitate proficient diagnostic solutions all in one visit.

Our highly skilled Consultant Sonographers, educated in well-renowned universities from the UK and abroad, have over 20 years of ultrasound scanning experience in the NHS and the private sector. Their unparalleled knowledge combined with experience and passion for ultrasound is your assurance that we will deliver a service second to none. On hand Consultants, Radiologists provide backup opinion and advice as necessary

Combined with our extended opening hours, evenings and weekends and absence of waiting lists, we are able to not only provide the highest standard of care but to minimize anxiety, prevent delay and ensure treatment is given promptly and confidentially.

At Sonoworld Harley Street, London we offer complex ultrasound examinations including Abdominal, Pelvis, Obstetric, 3D/ 4D, Head and Neck, Breast, Soft tissue lumps and bumps, a wide spectrum of Vascular and the whole range of MSK scans. Additionally, we provide innovative well-being screening packages which can detect early some of the commonest illnesses and can prevent life-threatening conditions. Combined with electronic reporting your results can be instantly made available to your own doctor anywhere in the 'sono' world.

 

There are multiple reasons why our clients choose to book a private scan in our private ultrasound clinic in London.

Some of our clients have been referred for an ultrasound scan from their GP to help in diagnosing reasons for their health complaints. The hospital scan times, however, can be long.

The ultrasound waiting times in the NHS can be as long as six weeks and sometimes more, depending on your local hospital. So almost a month and a half that you have to wait to find out what’s wrong with you. This can have a detrimental effect on yourself as it will increase & anxiety.

When you eventually have received your ultrasound scan appointment, you have limited choice regarding the date and time of your scan. Yes, you can call in and reschedule your ultrasound appointment but, in most cases, you will go back to the end of the queue, unless there are any cancellations.

Now contrast this with our ultrasound clinic in London where not only you can book a same day ultrasound appointment but you can choose the time and date to suit you. Your daily stress is further minimised by being able to book an evening and weekend appointment, so there is no need to get stressed about being able to have a day off for your scan.

Testicular lumps or swelling of the scrotum are very common and affect all ages. The first thing that always comes to mind is what if the lump is dreaded cancer.

A testicular ultrasound scan, a quick ultrasonic examination procedure using sound waves,  will be able to accurately tell you what the lump or swelling is.

 

The anatomy bit.

The testicles are the primary male reproductive organs housed in the scrotal sac and produce the sperm and testosterone.

You also have, what is called the epididymitis in the scrotal sac. Epididymitis is full of interrelated tubules where the sperm matures.

 

'WE WERE POWERLESS'  Pensioner, 79, died three days after being refused an ultrasound scan ‘that could have saved her life’

 

It was with great sadness that I read the article with the above title in yesterday's 'The Sun' newspaper. 

According to the article, Mrs. Sledmere attended her local hospital in London with abdominal pain and doctor diagnosed here with either gallstones or gastritis.

Unfortunately, she did not receive an ultrasound scan to confirm or exclude gallstones as they did not have any ultrasound scan appointments available at the time and they sent her home where she died three days later from perforated gallbladder.

Ultrasound Scan - How, What, Why- All your questions answered What is an ultrasound scan?

An ultrasound scan is a medical diagnostic imaging technique that utilises sound waves to obtain internal images of the body.

A probe, called transducer, rests on the skin. This probe sends soundwaves inside the body. Some of the sound waves bounce back to the prop and a powerful computer creates the black and white ultrasound image. The returning sound are called echoes.

Ultrasound scans are widely being used today as the first line of diagnostic imaging because they are relatively cheap, more available than CT and MRI and have no side effects.

 

Why should you have an ultrasound scan?

The reasons you might be having an ultrasound scan vary but, in most cases, you have been to your GP with some discomfort and maybe pain and your GP wants to see what is happening inside you.

In this article let’s talk about a little secret that nobody tells you when you go to the gym. In our modern physical activity, extreme high intensity workouts like Crossfit, Bootcamp, Zumba, and any bodypump exercises  are getting popularity among women and man all across the world. While you are feeling stronger and fit, on the other side the condition and balance of the pelvic floor may be weaker causing many serious symptomatic and pathologic problem . One of the youtube videos that has had an impact on me is titled,, Crossfit, do you pee during exercises?’’

I have always asked myself why some of the physical activities which I feel, make me stronger on the outside make me, is the same time, so much weaker inside?

And this is the truth that we are ignoring day by day:

HIGH IMPACT EXERCISES ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE TOVERLOAD ON INTRA-ABDOMINAL PRESSURE

Pelvic floor muscles (Levator ani muscle) have to contain this systematic increase of pressure in order to avoid  that the  visceral-pelvic-organs collapse down . The management of intra-abdominal pressure can fail if several risk factors coexist at the same time (frequency, load, intensity, impact of training). The scientific literature found out that more than 80% of female athletes suffer from stress urinary incontinence, decrease in vaginal pressure compared to no-athletes and organs prolapse. For Stress Urinary incontinence means that there is an involuntary dissipation when we sneeze, cough, jump, run, or we do any physical effort in general.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with one in eight women in the UK developing breast cancer in their lifetime, one person being diagnosed every 10 minutes, according to Breast Cancer Care . It is important to look after your breasts by checking them regularly. Breast awareness does save lives. Breast awareness is the experience of ...