By Sola Ogundipe
CONCERN has been raised about the low level of expertise and quality of ultrasound scanning in Nigeria, hence the need for government to put in place and enforce regulation that would standardise the practice in the country. The urgent need for development of Nigeria’s biotechnology resources has also been stressed.

A practicing sonographer and member of the American Society of Diagnostic and Medical Sonography Programme . Ms. Ann Polin, who made these observations, also stated that the  sooner effort is made towards ensuring an enabling and supportive environment for the utilisation of ultrasound as a medical diagnostic tool, the better it would be for the nation’s medical profession.

Polin,who is also Chairperson at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Seattle, Washington, in the USA, spoke in Lagos last week during a 2-day obstetric ultrasound workshop organised by Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos & Asaba.The event was the 5th in series with the objective of updating Nigerian medical doctors on the utilisation of ultrasound scan as a medical diagnostic tool.

In a chat with Good Health Weekly, she expressed worry over the quality of the practice of ultrasound (sonography which entails using the reflections of high-frequency sound waves to construct an image of a body organ (a sonogram).

“I’m concerned about the level of expertise for doing the ultrasound in this environment. It is not up to par in many instances and that is why I’m here to try and provide some resources and give additional input and encourage physicians to get the additional education and training that they can prioritise in their practice.”

Further, she said: “I know there are lot of ultrasound machines in Africa and it appears to be a booming business, but I am concerned and I’m sure there are a lot of people concerned too that the physicians and non-physicians who are doing ultrasound have very limited training and resources to get the training.”

She described ultrasound as a diagnostic tool. “It’s a method of looking inside the human body trying to figure out what is wrong with the body. It can be used in different ways, but basically uses high frequency sound waves from an ultrasound machine to get a picture of the organs and information about their condition in the body.”

On the training workshop, Polin was in Nigeria on invitation by Nordica Lagos & Asaba to give introductory courses to physicians interested in learning about ultrasound. She said the two-day workshop deliberated on the basic features. “The participants were taught how to utilise ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in obstetrics and the importance of doing new things in addition to what they are already

doing. We had a practical session and I was able to guide them on how to measure a foetus head size and abdomen and that kind of thing.”

Noting that it was a two-part problem, she said one had to do with getting the right skills and the other concerned the issue of  getting the right equipment.”It’s a problem I see and one that I worry about a lot. I try to encourage people to think carefully about the kind of equipment they need before buying. I advise that people should try and buy refurbished equipment which are used equipment that have been checked over by a biomedical supplier and would work a lot better than buying on the open market from someone you do not know because the equipment could break down in a week.”

To aid the practice of sonography in the country, Polin remarked that it was up to the government to put into place regulations that would state the kind of training needed for anyone who wanted to offer ultrasound services. “We need to have regulation in place that would state the standard for ultrasound.  resources, and trainpeople on how to fix ultrasound scanners”

Also speaking, the Medical Director, Nordica Lagos & Asaba, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi said the workshop was a continuation of the series initiated by the facility last year.” Ultrasound is one of the commonest tools doctors use and we know the training for its use is almost non-existent in Nigeria. Therefore we have decided to continue to train doctors and other health professionals in this aspect so that our patients can get better care and value for their money.”

Emphasising the primary problem was with the training doctors in the use of ultrasound scanners, Ajayi observed that the idea of updating the participants on the theory and practice of ultrasound scanning was essential.