School of Diagnostic Imaging

Medical Sonography Program

A Brief History of Ultrasound
at Rhode Island Hospital

Ultrasound began at Rhode Island Hospital in the early 1970s as a very primitive imaging tool. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rhode Island Hospital and its medical staff acknowledged that ultrasound played an important role in diagnostic imaging.

The Rhode Island Hospital School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography was established in 1982, and has been accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Diagnostic Medical Sonography since 1996.

Rhode Island Hospital was the first in the state and one of the first in the country to utilize ultrasound to diagnose deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities, and the first in the state to perform percutaneus biopsies.

Ultrasound technology has grown dramatically here at the hospital and has continued a steady growth to the present.

History

Sonography students benefit from:

State-of-the-art ultrasound units
- Upgraded routinely
Fourteen ultrasound rooms
- Possible expansion in the near future
Registered, experienced sonographers
- Sonographer experience ranges from 1 to 25 years
An accredited diagnostic medical sonography program
- Accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Affiliation with Women and Infants Hospital
- Ultrasound rooms
- Level I and II obstetrical sonography
Affiliation with The Miriam Hospital
- General sonography
Level I Trauma Center
- New center opened in April of 2005
- One of the busiest in the United States
Filmless environment
- PACS
Fellowship-trained radiologists
- 52 board-certified radiologists
Hasbro Children's Hospital
- 160 beds
- Two pediatric intensive care units
- Six pediatric operating rooms
Pediatric Imaging Center
- Opening in the Fall of 2006
- Four ultrasound rooms
- Four radiographic rooms
- One CT room
- One MRI room
- Pediatric sedation
Breast imaging Center
- Two ultrasound rooms
- Ultrasound guided biopsies
- Ultrasound guided needle localizations

We perform more than 35,000 exams per year, including:

General diagnostic studies
Vascular studies
Pediatric sonography
Breast imaging
Biopsies
Drainages
Radiofrequency ablation
Alcohol ablation
Intraoperative procedures
Research projects

For more information, contact Paul Maria at pmaria@lifespan.org.

Back