Generally, a patient is asked to remove all jewelry, change into a gown and lie on a table. Gel is applied to the skin on the part of the body to be examined to eliminate air pockets that might prevent the sound waves from forming. A sonographer presses a transducer, a small hand-held device, against the skin and moves it over the area being examined. Sound waves are transmitted into the body, and sound waves bounce back and are sent to a computer, which creates the images. For an internal ultrasound, a probe with a transducer attached is inserted into a natural opening in the body. Internal ultrasounds include transrectal ultrasound a transducer inserted into a man’s rectum in order to view his prostate, transesophageal echocardiogram a transducer inserted into the esophagus, typically after sedation, in order to obtain heart images, transvaginal ultrasound a transducer inserted into a woman’s vagina in order to view her ovaries and uterus. Ultrasound testing is generally painless and takes from 30 minutes to an hour.