The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Sweet Home Family Medicine doctors Bridget Shariat, left, and Tessa Reff stand next to a Midray M-5 portable ultrasound unit donated recently to the clinic by the Obria Medical Clinic in Lebanon, formerly Pregnancy Alternatives Center. "This unit will help us continue to provide necessary prenatal care to our Sweet Home population," said Shariat, an obstetrician at the clinic. The $7,000 machine has an abdominal and a vaginal transducer. A transducer is a device that produces sound waves that bounce off body tissues and make echoes, which can determine the size, shape and consistency of soft tissues and organs. While most commonly known to aid in hearing a baby's heartbeat or reveal the sex of a fetus, an ultrasound can also confirm positioning, fluid levels and some measurements.