What's new in urologic ultrasound?

Ultrasound is an imaging technology that has evolved swiftly and has come a long way since its beginnings. It is a commonly used initial diagnostic imaging modality as it is rapid, effective, portable, relatively inexpensive, and causes no harm to human health. In the last few decades, there have been significant technological improvements in the equipment as well as the development of contrast agents that allowed ultrasound to be even more widely adopted for urologic imaging. Ultrasound is an excellent guidance tool for an array of urologic interventional procedures and also has therapeutic application in the form of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for tumor ablation. This article focuses on the recent advances in ultrasound technology and its emerging clinical applications in urology.