The consensus was established based on some questions of cerebral and carotid ultrasound examination in practice through the collection, elucidation and explanation by three professional committees in the field of vascular ultrasonography, including the Professional Committee of Vascular Ultrasound of Stroke Prevention and Treatment Expert, Committee of the National Health Commission; the Professional Committee of Superficial Organ and Peripheral Vascular Ultrasound of the Chinese Medical Ultrasound Engineering; the Professional Committee of Craniocerebral and Cervical Vascular Ultrasound of the Chinese Medical Ultrasound Engineering, in order to promote the professional field and the level of technology standardization. It has important value in clinic leading and professional guidance.

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities are one of the most common disease in clinical practice, and among them, gastric cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in China. However, conventional trans-abdominal ultrasound is difficult to evaluate GI diseases due to gas filled in the GI tract. With the development of oral contrast agents in China, ultrasonography with oral contrast agent has been used to visualize upper GI tract (i.e., stomach and duodenum) as well as its surrounding structures. The primary purposes of this consensus and guideline written by Chinese experts is to provide a coherent and clinical perspectives and practical protocol for using oral contrast in upper GI ultrasound, including four components: (1) indications and contraindications of gastric contrast ultrasound; (2) patients and instruments preparation; (3) scanning technique and imaging acquisition; (4) diagnosis of upper GI abnormalities.

The spread of new coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) follows a different pattern than previous respiratory viruses, posing a serious public health risk worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease as COVID-19 and declared it a pandemic. COVID-19 is characterized by highly contagious nature, rapid transmission, swift clinical course, profound worldwide impact, and high mortality among critically ill patients. Chest X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), and ultrasound are commonly used imaging modalities. Among them, ultrasound, due to its portability and non-invasiveness, can be easily moved to the bedside for examination at any time. In addition, with use of 4G or 5G networks, remote ultrasound consultation can also be performed, which allows ultrasound to be used in isolated medial areas. Besides, the contact surface of ultrasound probe with patients is small and easy to be disinfected. Therefore, ultrasound has gotten lots of positive feedbacks from the frontline healthcare workers, and it has played an indispensable role in the course of COVID-19 diagnosis and follow up.