Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) physicians have adapted real-time 3-D ultrasound imaging devices to visualize single nerves in an effort to block nerve function in selected areas of the body.
According to Mayo, its physicians have used this technique to place blocks on nerves in the neck, under arms, below collarbones, and in the backside upper portion of legs, which may spare surgical patients from use of general anesthesia.
The Mayo clinic tested two different Philips transducers (the hand held probes held by physicians against the body which emit the ultrasound waves) known as the x3-1 and x7-2 Matrix array tranducers. Both provide sharp resolutions even at shallow depths, contends Mayo physicians.
