Sono Savvy – Physics makes ultrasound physics easier to understand, remember, and actually use.Each episode breaks down one Topic at a time, combining core sonography physics concepts with practical explanations, memorable analogies, important formulas and relationships, and real-world scanning applications. The goal is to help diagnostic medical sonography students prepare for class exams and the ARDMS SPI while also understanding how the physics shows up at the machine and affects image quality, Doppler, artifacts, resolution, penetration, and scanning technique.No endless rambling and no memorizing facts without context—just clear, focused explanations designed to help the concepts click.Created for sonography students who want to understand the “why,” not just memorize the answer.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/6/2/2022e83e-2cda-42f8-a287-d1e758ecc27a_2a_-_elevational_resolution_and_beam_thickness.m4a

Understand the third dimension of the ultrasound beam, how slice thickness affects image quality, and how array design, elevational focusing, and related beam behavior influence what appears on the image.

014 Slice Thickness & Elevational Resolution

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/6/2/0eb8eca9-8697-44af-b388-9f3252761a6c__-_the_physics_of_ultrasound_transducer_arrays.m4a

Learn how different transducer designs create, focus, steer, and sequence the ultrasound beam, and how those design choices affect image shape, footprint, and clinical use.

013 Transducers, Arrays & How the Beam Is Built

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/6/2/b8654c18-5b73-4ab5-a93a-3563acd0c419_11_-_the_physics_of_ultrasound_display_modes.m4a

Learn the three fundamental ultrasound display modes, how each represents returning echoes, and how amplitude, brightness, and motion are displayed differently.

012 A-Mode, B-Mode, & M-Mode

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/6/2/e5f3e7dc-d249-4132-acff-fbc7af29cce3_10_-_axial_vs_lateral_resolution_in_ultrasound.m4a

Break down axial and lateral resolution, what determines each one, and why pulse length, beam width, and focusing affect the system’s ability to distinguish structures that are close together.

011 Resolution: How Ultrasound Separates Detail

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/6/2/a3b51349-58a4-4e0e-ba4d-d05ae9b59be0_9_-_physics_of_ultrasound_sound_beams_2.m4a

Learn how ultrasound beams are shaped, where they narrow and widen, what determines focal depth, and how beam diameter changes through the near and far field.

010 Sound Beams: Shape, Focus & Divergence

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/7/1/acf9d44d-c3e2-4a1a-b55d-0bf123a9e8de_the_physics_of_ultrasound_transducers_2.m4a

Explore how ultrasound transducers create and receive sound, including their basic construction, the piezoelectric effect, and the key components that make pulse-echo imaging possible.

009 Inside the Transducer

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/5/1/bd80be82-3d7f-458e-9f9f-a31d2b381e28_7_-_how_ultrasound_measures_depth_using_time.m4a

Learn how time-of-flight is used to determine reflector depth and why accurate distance calculations depend on assumptions about how fast sound travels through tissue.

008 The Range Equation: How Ultrasound Knows Where Things Are

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/5/1/f4caef15-1517-4f76-bcec-baaa72996f18_hysics_of_ultrasound_reflection_and_refraction.m4a

Explore what happens when sound reaches an interface, including acoustic impedance, reflection, transmission, and refraction—and how those interactions affect echoes, artifacts, and scanning technique.

007 What Happens at a Tissue Boundary

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/5/1/75cd7591-ef28-435f-b019-be80ee17cbd6_decibels_and_attenuation_in_ultrasound_physics.m4a

Learn how ultrasound loses energy as it travels through tissue, how decibels and attenuation coefficient describe that loss, and why frequency and distance matter for penetration and image quality.

006 Attenuation: Why Sound Fades

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/4/21/68ec4ee6-e997-4f84-a464-8c4cf951a9c5__-_spatial_and_temporal_ultrasound_intensities.m4a

This episode covers how ultrasound intensity is measured and reported, including spatial and temporal intensity concepts, how they’re combined, and the key rules for comparing different intensity measurements.

005 Intensity: Where, When & How Much

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/4/20/26f9b809-3f42-4dba-aab2-460ead4259db_-_pulsed_wave_parameters_in_ultrasound_physics.m4a

This episode covers pulse duration, spatial pulse length, pulse repetition period and frequency, and duty factor—what each one means, how they relate, and how pulsed ultrasound timing works.

004 Pulsed Ultrasound: Timing Is Everything

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/4/20/6c2ccfcf-6e37-428d-8610-1ee1e4d37576__the_seven_acoustic_parameters_of_ultrasound_2.m4a

This episode breaks down the seven parameters used to describe sound waves: period, frequency, amplitude, power, intensity, wavelength, and propagation speed, including how they relate to one another and what determines each one.

003 Describing Sound: The 7 Key Parameters

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/4/20/3b6bebb8-195b-4d19-835d-a9d76bd4b594_2_-_how_ultrasound_waves_travel_through_tissue.m4a

This episode explains the basics of sound including how sound waves move, the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves, acoustic variables, and how waves interact through constructive and destructive interference.

002 How Sound Waves Work

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/10/4/18/67ccb9da-2238-45d7-9e36-83ea8e0cb636__-_foundational_ultrasound_physics_for_the_spi.m4a

Build the foundation for ultrasound physics graphs, direct and inverse relationships, reciprocals, units, metric prefixes, powers of ten, and unit conversions—the basic tools you’ll use throughout the rest of physics.

001 Physics Foundations: Relationships, Units & Conversions

Sono Savvy – Physics makes ultrasound physics easier to understand, remember, and actually use.

Each episode breaks down one Topic at a time, combining core sonography physics concepts with practical explanations, memorable analogies, important formulas and relationships, and real-world scanning applications. The goal is to help diagnostic medical sonography students prepare for class exams and the ARDMS SPI while also understanding how the physics shows up at the machine and affects image quality, Doppler, artifacts, resolution, penetration, and scanning technique.

No endless rambling and no memorizing facts without context—just clear, focused explanations designed to help the concepts click.

Created for sonography students who want to understand the “why,” not just memorize the answer.