Comments on: Mini Ultrasound – Fad or Necessity?

By: Soronel Haetir

Soronel Haetir — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:56:47 +0000

They need to come up with a better name for this product. my screen reader pronounces Signos very close to “sickness”. Which when coupled with ‘Siemens’ sounds almost like “seaman sickness”. Just not very auspicious.

By: Rogue Medic

Rogue Medic — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:05:18 +0000

Portable ultrasound has been receiving a lot of attention in EMS. We are most likely going to be replacing intubation with use of alternative airway devices. This is because of a lack of opportunity to use the skill.

While ultrasound will not create airway problems, misreading an ultrasound may encourage actions that are bad for patients.

How often would this be used in EMS? How would we develop and maintain competence if it is mostly used to confirm that the heart is not beating to pronounce patients with asystole or PEA?

i am not opposed to improved technology. I think that waveform capnography is extremely useful. I just wish the local EDs would catch up with EMS on its use. Dr. Deitch and Dr. Krauss have done great work on capnography.

By: WhiteCoat

WhiteCoat — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:27:08 +0000

Talk about double entendres …

By: ERP

ERP — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:21:56 +0000

I want a free one to play with.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:28:42 +0000

Both GE and SonoSite have new hand-held systems, they are the GE Venue 40 and SonoSite Nanomaxx. I think if the companies with a proven track record with the larger dinosaurs produce a hand-held device you can feel confident that the image quality is there. Through the years software is migrated from one platform to another as technology allows – reference the cell phone comment.

The markets that these folks are going after have space and time constrictions so it makes sense to have a smaller device. The targets are anesthesia, interventional, critical care, etc. I’ll be at AIUM this week so I’m looking forward to seeing them in action!

To answer the question about an App – YES! SonoSite introduced SonoAccess last November.

I posted the info on my own blog:
http://renaissanceultrasound.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/sonosite-dazzles-again-now-with-sonoaccess-for-iphone/

By: Mama On A Budget

Mama On A Budget — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:14:50 +0000

I saw a commercial for GE or something where they showed a traveling doc (think Doctors Without Borders) using one of these. For *that* purpose… I think it’s a great idea. Or as the first commenter said, for rural med (my kids were born when we lived in a rural area where you had to call ahead to the ER (I could actually call it an ER – okay, an E2R since there were only 2 beds) before coming so they could call a doctor in. There is NO WAY, aside from a generous donation, that they could afford to keep updating $40,000 ultrasound machines. $4000… that’s more likely.

Or at the rural clinic where I saw my doctor – where the Doppler would cut out after 8 seconds and would have to be restarted over and over during a prenatal appointment to try and get a heart rate – to the point that I had them switch over to a fetoscope for accuracy. That clinic was an actual ER – where the room doubled as a storage closet. *IF* the had an ultrasound there, it was probably about as old as me. Chances are $4000 would be steep for them, too… but much more likely than a big machine.

By: Bostonian in NY

Bostonian in NY — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:44:51 +0000

This report was brought to you by Siemens…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:40:31 +0000

Spoke to a radiologist about these, he claims within ten years we will all have one, just like a steth’. Now the obviouse question, when will it be an app for the ipod/phone?

By: Mark Wheatley

Mark Wheatley — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:02:13 +0000

I think it’s “a step toward ubiquity for medical personnel.” being able to have visibility, even not as fine as higher resolution machines, in the field (“is there internal bleeding? free air in the abdomen?) will lead to great things almost I think as the invention of blood pressure cuff.

By: Dr. Greenbbs

Dr. Greenbbs — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:17:06 +0000

As an avid ED ultrasound user, i’m not so sure that it’s a horrible idea.

For the larger, better funded ED’s, an ultrasound such as the Sonosite S or M-Turbo that can run tens of thousands of dollars (oh, say 30k or so) isn’t out of the question, and is probably needed due to advances in EM and the desire to provide higher level of service (especially in the ultra competitive suburban settings)

But where i can see this taking foot is in the more rural ED’s or smaller ED’s where they can’t necessarily afford a bad-ass ultrasound, but could get this. You could rapidly diagnose AAA’s, pericardial effusions, tension pneumos, place quick IV’s if needed. It would revolutionize rapid diagnosis in those smaller out of the way ED’s that don’t have the CT tech there 24/7, or are so far out that truly rapid diagnosis could mean the difference between life or death.