During the past 35 years, ultrasound and nuclear medicine were introduced into clinical medicine, computed tomography (CT) revolutionized diagnostic procedures and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) emerged, bringing new diagnostic information at the cellular level. X-ray morphed from analog films to digital, and virtually all medical images became "soft" files on the electronic superhighway. This TriMark Publications report describes the increasingly diversified market segment of the diagnostics market sector called ultrasonography or, more commonly, ultrasound. This sector currently includes prenatal ultrasonography, cardiac and cardiology-imaging ultrasound, and increasingly portable or handheld ultrasound, which some believe may partly to fully replace the ubiquitous use of stethoscopes over time. Emerging market segments such as three-dimensional (3D) and now four-dimensional (4D) ultrasound are also examined.
