Radiology Coding Alert

Apply definitions direct from CPT®.

Successfully connecting your radiology report to codes and coverage policies requires understanding a variety of medical terms. For accurate ultrasound coding, be sure you've mastered the following definitions.

• A-mode: One-dimensional ultrasound measurement* (may be seen in ophthalmology)
• B-scan: Two-dimensional ultrasound scan with two-dimensional display*
• Doppler: Ultrasound method that shows the pattern and direction of blood flow in vessels by bouncing sound waves off of circulating red blood cells; spectral Doppler shows the spectrum of flow velocities in relation to time; color flow Doppler uses a color display to show flow toward the transducer (usually red) and flow away from the transducer (usually blue)
• Duplex: Ultrasound method that shows the pattern and direction of blood flow in vessels; produces real-time images combining "B-mode two-dimensional vascular structure, Doppler spectral analysis, and color flow Doppler imaging"#
• M-mode: One-dimensional ultrasound measurement "with movement of the trace to record amplitude and velocity of moving echo-producing structures"* (in other words, movement is represented as a wave)
• Real-time scan: Two-dimensional ultrasound; display of both two-dimensional structure and motion with time*
• Sonography: An alternate term for ultrasound
• Ultrasound: Imaging method that uses a transducer device to send out high-frequency sound waves (not radiation) that bounce off body tissues; the transducer captures the bounced back waves and uses them to create images

* Definitions based on CPT® guidelines for Diagnostic Ultrasound

# Definition based on CPT® guidelines for Noninvasive Vascular Diagnostic Studies.