The World Needs More Ultrasound Machines
Ultrasound, CT scanners, and x-ray machines are medical technologies we generally take for granted. But in resource-limited areas around the world, access to these life-saving devices is severely limited. In a September 2017 feature in The Atlantic, medical writer Jason Silverstein described the challenges developing countries face without the benefit of point-of-care ultrasound devices, x-ray machines, and CT scanners.
Silverstein illustrated the stunning contrast between developing countries and one American city. Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital alone has 126 radiologists1, while…
Sonosite M-Turbo Gets Plenty of Work in Vanuatu: Part One
Dr. Jonathan “Jono” Henry is an emergency physician based in Melbourne, Australia. After he gave a talk at the 2018 ASUM Conference in Auckland, Dr. Henry was asked by the Vanuatu Ministry of Health to assist with emergency services in their country. The Pacific archipelago nation is still struggling to emerge from a 2015 cyclone.For six months Dr. Henry was based at Northern Provincial Hospital, located in the city of Luganville on the island Espiritu Santo. This is Vanuatu’s second-largest hospital, serving a population of 160,000. Naturally, Dr. Henry knew a portable ultrasound…
Restoring Hope by Reducing Pain and Disability
Asha Vihar is a development aid project in the state of Jharkhand, Eastern India that delivers free healthcare to those who need it most. Anesthetists Dr. Lukas Fischer and Dr. Peter Lembach volunteered at Asha Vihar’s annual surgical camp for children with musculoskeletal abnormalities. Dr. Fischer depended heavily on using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to guide needle insertions and provide regional anesthesia, enabling life-changing interventions.
Many people in India cannot afford health insurance or pay for surgery that their child may have needed for many years. These families…
Sonosite Ultrasound the Star Attraction at AORA Conference
The Economic Times Healthworld.com covered FUJIFILM Sonosite’s exhibit of its latest ultrasound products at the 9th National Conference of Academy of Regional Anesthesia (AORA), organized by the Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Care, Ganga Hospital from July 4-7, 2019 at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
During the tradeshow at Le Meridien hotel, FUJIFILM Sonosite displayed their SII, Edge II, X-Porte, and iViz point-of-care ultrasound systems. The SII was the primary attraction during the main event and at the post-conference workshops.
Dr. T.V.S Gopal, President of AORA India…
Seattle Emergency Clinician Brings Ultrasound to Rural Nigeria
Alaro Lawson DNP, emergency room provider at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, returned from a medical mission to Bakana, Nigeria on behalf of the Kalabari National Association (KNA). She took with her two Sonosite Edge portable ultrasound machines, accompanied with C60x, HFL38X, HFL50X, ICTx, L25x, L38xi, P10x, C11x, and P21x transducers, provided by Sonosite’s Global Health Loaner Pool. This is the fourth year KNA has partnered with local Nigerian organizations to provide free healthcare to residents in rural, often neglected communities in the Niger Delta region. Alaro described the…
Sonographer Takes Sonosite Edge to Belize
Deborah Majure RT, CV, RDMS, RCC is a diagnostic medical sonographer who knows the importance of ultrasound in resource-limited environments. She recently returned from a charitable medical mission to Belize, sent by First Presbyterian Church, Pascagoula, Mississippi, which is affiliated with Word at Work ministry. This was their fourth mission to Belize. Deborah came with a radiologist, nurse practitioner, resident nurse, pharmacist, and a construction team. She also brought a Sonosite Edge portable ultrasound machine with C60x and HFL38x transducers loaned from the Sonosite Global Loaner…
Fujifilm Sonosite and Partners HealthCare Launch Artificial Intelligence Initiative
FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc. announced the launch of a strategic relationship with Partners HealthCare to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to POCUS applications. The two companies will collaborate to use AI-based models that will assist clinicians in diagnosis and enhance quality of care. The collaboration will be executed through the MGH & BWH Center for Clinical Data Science and leverage the extensive data assets, computational infrastructure, and clinical expertise of the Partners HealthCare system.
Rich Fabian, President and Chief Operating Officer of FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc. said…
Sonosite M-Turbo Fights Varicose Veins in Honduras
Dr. Dvora Nelson is a general surgeon specializing in the treatment of varicose veins. She has gone on medical missions for the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation since 2006. Dr. Nelson went to a remote mountain clinic in Olanchito, Honduras to treat patients with varicose veins with two portable M-Turbo ultrasound machines on loan from Sonosite.
Dr. Nelson understands all too well the seriousness of varicose veins, a potentially debilitating condition. She explains the complications that could occur if this condition is not attended to:
“Varicose veins can be very painful. Basically,…
Medical Mission Uses Portable Ultrasound Machine in Liberia
Allison Byrne is a physical therapist and co-leader of a medical team from the Park Community Church in Chicago. She recently returned from a medical mission to assist the Light Evangelism Ministry (LEM) clinic in Fendell, Liberia. The LEM clinic provides diagnoses and treatment via IV and oral medications to any patients who come to be seen with only limited electricity from a generator.Allison’s team consisted of six people with various medical backgrounds (including a resident nurse, osteopath, and physician assistant) and two more people who primarily supported the ministry’s school. They…
Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D., Visits Fujifilm Sonosite
FUJIFILM Sonosite was honored to host Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D., who represents Washington’s 8th District, at our Bothell campus on July 8th. Congresswoman Schrier interacted with our point-of-care ultrasound products and held an extremely well-attended Town Hall meeting to take questions from our employees.
Congresswoman Schrier is currently the only woman physician serving in Congress. She received her medical degree from UC Davis and completed her residency at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. She joined Virginia Mason Medical Center in Issaquah, Washington in…
Studies Show POCUS Saves Time for Pregnant Patients
In a March 2019 meta-analysis of eight studies published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, data shows that the use of pelvic point-of-care ultrasound (PPOCUS) can lead to pregnant patients spending less time in the Emergency Department. These decreased lengths of stay can help EDs and hospitals reduce crowding and enhance their quality of care1.
When examining a pregnant patient, emergency physicians must make a choice of performing either PPOCUS or a comprehensive ultrasound (CUS) through the radiology or gynecology departments. Access to CUS, however, varies widely by…
POCUS Profile: Dr. T.V.S. Gopal
Dr. T.V.S. Gopal, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Associate Medical Director at CARE Hospitals in Hyderabad, India, has been practicing for more than 30 years. In this recent interview, Dr. Gopal discusses how POCUS has transformed the craft of anesthesiology and the many scenarios where he uses ultrasound.When did you start using ultrasound?I began my foray into ultrasound guided regional anesthesia in year 2006 when I attended the Second Advanced Regional Anaesthesia & Ultrasound Guided Peripheral Nerve Block Course conducted by the Aesculap Academy in Tan Tock Seng Hospital,…
Vets Examine Expectant Orangutan with Sonosite Ultrasound
Feliz, a Sumatran orangutan living in Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana, is expecting her second child. Feliz’s newest offspring is due late this summer. “All of the work that the primate care team has done has paid off, and we could not be more excited to have a baby orangutan on the way,” says Courtney Eparvier, Curator of Primates and Sea Lions at the zoo.In a video released by the Audobon Nature Institute, Eparvier describes how ultrasound is an important part of taking caring of Feliz and her baby:“We are making sure she’s getting prenatal vitamins, and also what’s really cool is the…
Top 10 Perioperative Applications of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Anesthesiologists
OR Today
Davinder S. Ramsingh, MD
With the release on May 30, 2019 of the final report from the Federal government’s Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, anesthesiologists need specific case studies on how to implement recommendations in their hospitals. This OR Today article, published by Davinder S. Ramsingh, MD, Director of Research and Perioperative Ultrasound at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology, shares ten applications of point-of-care ultrasound, a modality mentioned in Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) and Enhanced Recovery After…
Sonosite Systems Help Physicians Deliver Better Patient Care at Medanta
The Economic Times: Healthworld recently released a short documentary exploring how point-of-care ultrasound improves patient outcomes at Medanta Hospital - The Medicity in Gurugram, one of the leading multi-speciality hospitals in the Delhi-Capital region in India. In the documentary, Healthworld interviewed the point-of-care physicians at the hospital about their experience with POCUS.
The Medanta team is currently using the Sonosite M-Turbo and Sonosite Edge Color Doppler ultrasound systems. In the anesthesia and critical care departments, these devices have…
Sonosite M-Turbo Heads to Fiji on a Successful Medical Mission
Dr. David B. Goodie, a Specialist Anesthetist with the Fiji Orthopaedic Outreach, recently returned from a weeklong charitable medical mission in Fiji. For this mission, Sonosite lent Dr. Goodie an M-Turbo, which he promptly put to good use at the Lautoka Hospital in Fiji. He writes:
"[Sonosite] devices have proved invaluable in our work, and since I am the only anesthetist going on this occasion, an essential item for me to keep up with the workload…The members of the Orthopaedic Outreach team are once again indebted to Sonosite for the kind loan of an M-Turbo Ultrasound for its most…
East London Hospital Staff Applaud the Arrival of Their New Sonosite Machines
The Queen’s Hospital Emergency Department in Romford is showing off their four new Sonosite point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) machines which will allow them to examine patients quickly and accurately. Queen's Hospital, one of the busiest emergency wards in London, has a total of six Sonosite ultrasound machines.
The portable POCUS machines are critical because they allow hospital staff to bring imaging directly to the patient’s bedside so that doctors have immediate ultrasound imaging available for decision making and diagnosis.
Emergency Department consultant Darryl Wood is…
Top New Delhi Pediatrician Uses Sonosite to Promote Ultrasound
The Economic Times Healthworld recently interviewed Dr Vikas Kohli, an American Board Certified Pediatric Cardiologist with more than 20 years of experience. Based in the Delhi Child Heart Center in New Delhi, Dr. Kohli practices non-invasive, interventional pediatric cardiology and fetal cardiology. He has worked in premier medical centers as well as villages in India’s remotest areas. He spoke about how he uses ultrasound in his practice, and why he prefers Sonosite devices.Dr. Kohli feels that ultrasonography is an essential part of any ICU.“I believe that for echocardiography,…
Multimodal Analgesia Pain Management Strategies in the ICU
The use of opioids in the ICU and the post-operative period is common, with patients often receiving opioids even after simple surgeries. Though opioids are effective in providing fast pain relief, the side effects of respiratory depression, cough suppression, confusion, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting and potential addiction make the sole reliance on opioids risky.
ICU clinicians are formulating more effective strategies to manage patient pain while minimizing the risks. In an article published in ICU Management and Practice, Dr. Xavier Capdevila, Head of the Department of Anesthesia and…
Ultrasound for Elephant Medicine
India and Southeast Asia are home to the endangered Asian elephant, which is rapidly declining in numbers due to poaching and habitat destruction.In Myanmar, there are currently around 5,000 wild elephants, and another 3,500 that have worked in the logging industry carrying timber – an activity prohibited under new legislation. Eight of these ‘unemployed’ elephants are now cared for by Green Hill Valley, a local park on a mission to educate residents and visitors, while providing the elephants with vital veterinary care. Willem Schaftenaar, Veterinary Advisor to the Elephant Taxon Advisory…