by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | April 02, 2018
From the April 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
GE Healthcare's Vscan Extend handheld ultrasound.
Machines have become much more portable in recent years, and the price is right, but more emergency room physicians need to be trained, Bonadonna notes.
“It fills a niche for us that nothing else does,” Bonadonna says. “The more you learn about point-of-care ultrasound, the more you realize it needs to be more broadly available.”
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Portable ultrasound has also been an important part of Dr. Steven Kraus’ travels to Tanzania. Kraus, division chief of fluoroscopy and a staff radiologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, brought a Viamo ultrasound donated by Canon Medical Systems (formerly Toshiba Medical) on a two-week colorectal surgical mission, using the device to scan the kidneys, bladder and genitourinary structures of patients with anorectal malformations and to troubleshoot postoperative issues.
Kraus used the battery-operated device in a small hospital in the city of Mwanza.
“It was nice being able to take it up and down to the patients’ rooms to do things portably,” Kraus says. “They have ultrasound machines, but they're much older and they stay in one spot. When you're out in a place where you don't have as many elevators, you would want to have it to be somewhat portable so you can take it up and down stairs. It can go out to the villages, but we haven't done that.”
Kraus says that in the U.S., the Viamo would be suitable for an office setting.
Virtual Imaging Inc.'s RadPRO SOLTUS 100.
X-ray in action
Some portable devices have seen use both on the battlefield and on the sidelines. The RadPRO SOLTUS 100, a portable X-ray system released in October 2016 by Virtual Imaging Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., has a military version, the RadPRO SOLTUS 100M, released in June 2017.
The U.S. Army ordered more than 100 units of the RadPRO SOLTUS 100M, which folds down flat for easy transport in a van or truck. They used it to replace two older devices, an X-ray generator and accompanying computerized reader system. The purchase allowed the Army to reduce shipping weight by approximately 60 pounds per system.
