Pocket-sized ultrasound
Ultrasonography performed and interpreted by the clinician at the bedside is a major step forward in patient care.
The development of portable units has facilitated this evolution. In 2009 , the pocket sized ultrasound machine Vscan was released and ranked as the 14th most important invention worldwide by Time Magazine. The machine was developed by GE Vingmed Ulrasound (Horten, Norway) in cooperation with NTNU and St.Olavs Hospital.
Technologists and doctors explore new ways of using the Vscan for better patient care and to improve the user-friendliness for all users through the development of software programs for automatic quality assessment and quantitative analysis.
The potential benefit of a more widespread use of ultrasound is huge. In a study conducted at Levanger Hospital, the researchers found that by adding a pocket-sized ultrasound examination of <10 min to usual care, they corrected the diagnosis in almost 1 of 5 patients resulting in a completely different treatment strategy without delay in many of the patients.
Centre for researched based innovation
News
Introduction to ultrasound in medical education.
- Medical students are able to use pocket sized ultrasound as a supplement to standard physical examination
- Making handheld ultrasound easier to use
- Harvard Medical School Students Using a Handheld Ultrasound Machine in a Teaching Exercise: "Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Medical Education — Stop Listening and Look" in NEJM.
Media coverage
- Bærbar ultralyd gir bedre medisinering (Forskning.no - in Norwegian)
- Først i Europa med nytt ultralydapparat (NRK Kveldsnytt - in Norwegian)
- The Best Inventions: The Handheld Ultrasound (Time Magazine)
- GE Healthcare Vscan (PopSci)
- Handheld Echo Okay in Novice Hands (MedPage Today)
- Ultralyd i lomma redder liv (pdf - Adressa)
- Verdensnyhet i lommeformat (Teknisk Ukeblad)
- Ingeniørbragden til GE Vingmed (Teknisk Ukeblad)
- Bærbar ultralyd (NRK TV - no longer available)
- Bærbart ultralydapparat (NRK TV)
- Researchers' Night - Ut med bingo, inn med app! (NRK Kunnskapskanalen TV)
- St. Olavs på Expo i Shanghai: Sjekker helsa på stand (St. Olavs Hospital)
- Bedre pasientsikkerhet med teknologi (Forskningsrådet)
- Liten ultralyd endrer diagnose (UNIKARD videblog)
Contact
Technology:
Hans Torp Professor Dr. Techn
Clinical:
Bjørn Olav Haugen Professor MD PhD Consultant Cardiologist