Strip-chart recorder or videotape recorder. Follow technician's instructions for positioning your body. Technician guides a transducer, which may feel cold on your skin, over the area examined. Transducer sends an ultrasound beam, composed of very high-frequency soundwaves inaudible to the human ear. Conductive jelly is applied to your chest and a dime-size transducer, which looks like a microphone, is placed directly over it.
Pressure is exerted to keep the transducer in contact with the skin.
You may feel a slight discomfort from the pressure. The transducer is angled to observe different parts of the heart. You may be repositioned several times during the procedure. Although this gas may increase heart rate and produce flushing, dizziness and palpitations, effects soon subside. After passing through tissue, reflected soundwaves are converted into electrical impulses and displayed on a video screen for interpretation or photographing for later interpretation.