Basic Measurements

Over the years, I have noticed that beginning echocardiographers often have difficulty distinguishing between the following two ways of making measurements:

1. An “unnamed” measurement performed with the Caliper button
2. A structured measurement performed using the measurement parameters available through the Calc button

In everyday clinical practice, experienced echocardiographers often perform several examinations in succession—particularly during ward rounds or while on call—using only the Caliper function because of its speed. Despite this, they can usually obtain sufficient information about the clinically relevant echocardiographic findings for both patient management and report preparation.