Sound is very important to the modern world. From medical purposes to entertainment purposes, sound has proven to be extremely useful and essential in almost every aspect of technology.

The following are the uses of sound technology:

• Medical uses

Sound waves are required during ultrasound tests on patients and pregnant women. Ultrasound tests done on pregnant women indicates whether there are any forms of abnormalities such as morphology, structural or functional abnormalities in the fetus.
Ultrasound is also required to detect gallstones, tumors, heart defects or any other form of defect in the human body.

A new device which involves an ultrasound device combined with an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner allows neurosurgeons to burn out or destroy brain tissues that are not functioning in the brain anymore. This procedure does not require any incisions to be made and does not require radiation either, thus causing no harm to the patient.

• Scientific uses

There are many devices that have been produced by scientists to produce ultrasound. Ultrasound transducers are used to convert simple electrical energy to sound energy in the form of ultrasonic waves. These waves can also be converted back to electrical energy using transducers.

Ultrasound is also used for marine life research. It uses sonar waves to detect if something is present underwater. Sonar waves are sent under water and if the waves are reflected back and detected, it means something is present in that water causing the waves to deflect back. It is used to detect objects in the water and to find out the position of the object or sea animals by how deep it is underwater.

• Industrial uses

Industrial manufacturers use ultrasound to measure the thickness of an object, for example walls of pipes or metal sheets. It is also used to detect any crevices in the objects by measuring the depth of the sound that passes through the object. It is also used to measure the concentration of particles in solutions such as inks and paints.

Another important industrial use of sound is through music. We all know what music is and how important it is to us in our daily lives. Sound is used in amplifiers and instruments. Our vocal cords produce sound too from which we can sing and talk.

• Consumer items

Telephones, cell phones, video recorders, television sets, speakers, stethoscopes, microphones, hearing aids and audio recorders require sound to perform their sole functions. Without sound, these items will be useless and technology might have not developed as far as it has now. With mobile phones, one can call another and talk to that person and be heard at the same time. Speakers and television sets play recorded data and without sound, no information will be able to be transferred apart from changing images. People who cannot hear properly due to old age use hearing aids to make them hear things better.

The components of sound production include a microphone, a speaker and an amplifier. The microphone records the sound and transmits it in the form of electrical energy. The electrical energy is then converted back into sound energy by the speakers. The sound is sent to an amplifier which intensifies the sound so that it can be heard.