[The dilemma of data flood - reducing costs and increasing quality control]

Digitization is found everywhere in sonography. Printing of ultrasound images using the videoprinter with special paper will be done in single cases. The documentation of sonography procedures is more and more done by saving image sequences instead of still frames. Echocardiography is routinely recorded in between with so called R-R-loops. Doing contrast enhanced ultrasound recording of sequences is necessary to get a deep impression of the vascular structure of interest. Working with this data flood in daily practice a specialized software is required. Comparison in follow up of stored and recent images/sequences is very helpful. Nevertheless quality control of the ultrasound system and the transducers is simple and safe - using a phantom for detail resolution and general image quality the stored images/sequences are comparable over the life cycle of the system. The comparison in follow up is showing decreased image quality and transducer defects immediately.