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I have noticed that every time I am in the same room as an operating ultrasound machine, I can hear it. And not the machine making noises, but the actual ultrasounds (I know because it decreases in intensity after the gel is added).

'Ultrasound' refers to sound waves with a frequency too high for humans to hear (Wikipedia). Except, it seems, for me.

Simply, my question is, "Is this normal?"

Butterfly and Bones
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seadoggie01
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    Simple test: did you ask others whether they hear anything? – Shlublu Apr 28 '15 at 22:09
  • Yes, but as people get older they can't hear as high of sounds. I asked my mom, dad, and the doctor. (38, 41, and 50+, respectively) None of them could. – seadoggie01 Apr 28 '15 at 22:23
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    what do you mean that it disappears after the gel is added? – cnst Apr 29 '15 at 01:02
  • Oh, sorry, it is reduced in intensity or something, not quite sure, but it seems that the gel covers up the noise, because the 'joystick' is the speaker and is being muted of sorts. – seadoggie01 Apr 29 '15 at 02:09
  • I find this an interesting question because I can see infrared light and this reminds me of that. – L.B. Aug 16 '16 at 17:39

1 Answers1

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It is likely you are not hearing the ultrasound itself (typical frequencies are upwards of 1 MHz, far beyond what the human hearing system is capable of detecting). You are probably hearing coil whine from the electronics -- switched-mode power supplies in particular tend to operate towards the upper end of the hearing range, and the intensity of this sound changes as the power consumption does (eg. when the imaging system goes from "idle" to "active").

kenorb
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Mark
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