Sagittal plane
Narration
For the sagittal or longitudinal plane, we’re going to rotate that indicator so that it’s directed towards the patient’s head. If you think about always positioning yourself on the right side of the patient, then as you look at that indicator it’ll be on your left which makes sense as you look at the screen. So again, we’re going to be thinking about taking that plane and just placing it up on the screen as we look at it.
Narration
So here’s a cutaway image showing an actual moving image of the ultrasound cutting through the inferior vena cava as it drains into the heart. You’ll see w the indicator is directed towards the head, and that is where the heart is, and towards the right side of the image, or the feet of the patient, is the lower part of the inferior vena cava draining up into the heart.
Narration
So here’s a blown-up version of that image clip. You’ll see the liver anteriorly, the IVC in the far field - again, the patients feet is to the right side of the screen and the patients head, where the heart is, the right atrium are to the left side of the screen.
Narration
So lastly, and this is actually quite similar to the sagittal plane, is the coronal plane. In this case the plane of the ultrasound is the essentially parallel to the bed. The indicator is towards the patient’s head, and if you really think about this being towards your left, you’re actually looking from the floor upwards, which is a little bit more difficult to envision. But again I’m thinking of looking from the bottom up and the indicator to your left or the patient’s head.
