Sweden?s health care is continuously subjected to economical cutbacks, which results in enormous workloads. To prevent problems that arise in these situations, it is of great importance to take measures to increase the efficiency of the working process. This goal can be obtained by increasing our knowledge of the body, under both normal and sickly conditions. That is, by sharing knowledge of the various medical service units within Stockholm?s county council and thus elaborates diagnostics.

Ultrasound is a diagnostic aid often overlooked by the veterinary practicioner who works with farm-animals. However, it?s use increases, particulary for breeders where ultrasound has long been used to evaluate ovaries and to diagnose pregnancy or disturbances in reproduction. There is much knowledge in how to examine ovaries and uterus by transrectal ultrasound, but when it comes to doing ultrasound of other organs in the abdomen the knowledge is more limited. Cows are very large animals, so it is not possible to examine everything inside the abdomen with ultrasound, simply because the ultrasound beam has a limited penetration. There is also lots of gas inside the gastro-intestinal tract of a cow, mainly in the large intestine and the rumen, and that makes it impossible to examine the organs behind the gas since the ultrasound waves are reflected when reaching the soft tissue-gas interface.