text: does anyone know what echo means on a ultrasound? i was sent for a mammogram and then sent for a ultrasound and they found a new spot and said there was echo around it and to come back in 3 months, to see if there was any changes. ultrasounds are actually the reading of digitized echos, like bats use to find objects in the dark. or like sonar.  an "echo" in an ultrasound reading would be similar to a "shadow" in a photograph, and may mean nothing at all. if they told you to wait 3 months, there is almost definitely nothing to suggest a new cancer, but you can always ask the doc who ordered it to explain further.