Ultrasound in Limited-Resource Settings can Help Saves Lives
Dr Ben LaBrot 2.png by Dr. Ben LaBrot, founder of Floating DoctorsRecently, while visiting the US, I went to the emergency room with a family member who was suffering some generalized complaints (chest and abdominal pain).Very soon after we got checked in, the attending physician ordered a litany of tests—a complete blood count with differential, blood clot tests (d-dimer), ESR and CRP, a metabolic panel, a liver panel, blood cultures, urinalysis, chest X-ray, ECG, abdominal ultrasound, and a medical and a surgical review. I immediately felt the challenge of practicing in a…
Hospital Continues Efforts to Reduce Opioid Over-Prescription
St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey has been among the forefront of medical providers who are attempting to stem the U.S. opioid addiction epidemic where it often starts: the Emergency Department.FUJIFILM Sonosite has been delighted to work with St. Joseph’s anesthetic specialists to provide ultrasound imaging at the point of care, which can help physicians locate nerves that can benefit from a nerve block. Combined with other analgesics (even traditional OTC medications like Advil), these multi-modal pain control methods have helped St. Joseph cut their opioid…
User Stories: Sports Medicine Clinic Physician Uses Sonosite Ultrasound
Dr. Adam Garnett, a sports and exercise medicine (SEM) consultant at the Jersey Sports Medicine Clinic, divides his time between treating rugby players suffering from acute trauma injuries and triathletes and runners with overuse injuries. He explained how the use of point-of-care ultrasound has changed the way he manages sports injuries.My interest in sports and exercise medicine started 20 years ago when I was a GP in Bath and got involved with the rugby club. After moving to Jersey, I joined the Jersey Sports Medicine Clinic, and also developed my own private practice. I look after a lot…
Sports and Exercise Medicine Benefits from the Use of Ultrasound
Point-of-care ultrasound is an essential tool for Dr. Mark Ridgewell, an early pioneer of sport and exercise medicine (SEM). Through the course of his career, Mark has worked with many amateur and professional sportsmen and women, beginning with rugby and including three years with England Cricket and eight years with the Wales football team.The first SEM consultant to be registered in Wales, Dr. Ridgewell continues to work with the LTA and WTA women’s tennis tour every summer, and with Welsh Olympic and Commonwealth athletes across many sports under the Sport Wales banner. Mark also leads an…
Raising the Bar in Pediatric Medicine
HealthCare Business News
Anthony Moretti MD, MBA and Diku Mandavia MD, FACEP, FRCPC
Physicians face unique challenges when treating the pediatric patient population. In this article, Dr. Anthony Moretti, Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Adventist Health White Memorial, and Dr. Diku Mandavia, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at FUJIFILM Medical USA and FUJIFILM Sonosite Inc, discuss the technology that helps to provide solutions for these challenges.
Raising the Bar in Pediatric Medicine
Supporting REBOA with POCUS
Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) is an emergency technique for temporarily blocking the blood flow to the lower body in the event of subdiaphragmatic internal bleeding.A guidewire and balloon-like device are inserted into the aorta via the femoral artery and, as it inflates, the balloon blocks the aorta, reducing blood flow to the injured sites but maintaining it to vital organs such as the heart and brain. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can be used to guide and verify the position of the guidewire and balloon during the procedure, and is a preferred…
Portable Ultrasound Helps Researchers Understand Sharks
Every year the world's oceans lose roughly 100 million sharks due to human hunting. The big problem? Scientists don't know how to manage the population back. As an apex predator, sharks regulate smaller predators in the food chain, helping to ensure the oceans' ecosystem remains balanced and stable. Unfortunately, the global shark population has decreased by 90%, which means that understanding and protecting sharks is seriously at risk. That's why OCEARCH, a non-profit created to change how the scientific community studies large ocean animals, is interested…
iViz Used To Investigate Schistosomiasis In Madagascar
Schistosomiasis, a disease that is common in sub-Saharan Africa, is particularly widespread in Madagascar. The Schistosoma mansoni parasite responsible for the disease is linked to fibrotic changes in the liver which can be detected using point-of-care ultrasound. Dr. Hannah Russell described how point-of-care ultrasound was put to the test in remote locations during an expedition to study the disease in Malagasy school children.
My interest in Schistosomiasis – also known as Bilharzia – and the Madagascar project began when I was a medical student, after meeting fellow student – now doctor…
Floating Doctors: Remembering a Fetal Ultrasound from Years Ago
by Dr. Ben LaBrot, founder of Floating DoctorsAs of this writing, my wife is pregnant with our first child, and the novelty has long since worn off. After looking after so many other people’s pregnancies, it’s a novel experience to be on the other end of the ultrasound probe, as it were. Complicated pregnancies are more than the miracle of creating new life—they can be a long, stressful waiting game fraught with nasty surprises, difficult challenges and uncertainty… as I now understand better than I would like.My wife and I regularly attend ultrasound appointments to check on the…
Improving the Safety and Quality of Pediatric Emergency Care with Point-of-Care Ultrasound: Part 1
Beckers Clinical Leadership & Infection Control
Stephanie J. Doniger, MD, RDMS, FAAP, FACEP
One of the most appealing aspects of ultrasound is its inherent safety. With images generated using sound waves, rather than with the use of ionizing radiation, use of point-of-care ultrasound in Pediatric Emergency Medicine has risen dramatically. In this article by Dr. Stephanie J. Doniger, emergency physicians can learn more about improving the safety and quality of Pediatric Emergency Care with point-of-care ultrasound. This article, the first in a two-part series, provides an overview…
POCUS in Emergency Medicine: Dispatches from Iraqi Kurdistan
Medical imaging offers life-saving insights into patient health—and perhaps no other imaging modality is more versatile and mobile than point-of-care ultrasound. In a fascinating dispatch from the Kurdish city of Duhok in northern Iraq, Dr. Christine Butts describes how point-of-care ultrasound is an indispensable tool for emergency physicians, especially when patients arrive unconscious and with no indication of an obvious malady."The volume of patients has been high at Emergency Hospital. At the height of the war in Mosul, the physicians reported receiving more than 100 injured…
POCUS in Pre-hospital Settings: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Time is of the essence in an emergency situation, and may be the difference between life and death. Ambulance crews on the front line must decide rapidly whether or not a patient is suffering from a life-threatening condition requiring specialist treatment, and point-of-care ultrasound can provide vital guidance. Geert-Jan Deddens, a nurse practitioner in emergency care with the Rotterdam Ambulance Service, describes the benefits of using hand-carried ultrasound systems to assess suspected abdominal aortic aneurysms, allowing patients to be taken to the most appropriate hospital…
Ultrasound Transducers FAQ
Answers to Common Questions About Ultrasound Transducers (Ultrasound Probes)Whether you call them ultrasound transducers or ultrasound probes, these precision instruments are the foundation of every ultrasound exam. Below, FUJIFILM Sonosite answers the most frequently asked questions about how ultrasound transducers work, how to select the right one, and how to keep them performing reliably in demanding point-of-care environments.Ultrasound “Transducer” or Ultrasound “Probe”—Which Term Is Correct?Both are correct.The term transducer describes the device’s scientific function—it transduces one…
iViz Handheld Ultrasound for Physical Therapy
Point-of-care ultrasound plays an important role in sports medicine, and is key to the successful treatment of many injuries, whether assessing muscles, tendons and ligaments for damage or for guiding spinal column injections. Returning to the sports field as soon as possible is a priority for many athletes, and a fast diagnosis is essential to kick start the treatment process.
Thomas Sokollik is a naturopathic physical therapist* with experience working in anesthesia and emergency medicine departments. Sokollik specializes in sports medicine at his private practice in Kreuztal,…
Sonosite Sells 100,000th Ultrasound System
FUJIFILM Sonosite is delighted to announce that we have recently sold our 100,000th system. A Sonosite X-Porte, our premier kiosk ultrasound system, was delivered to a hospital in California in early October. “We are thrilled to be able to provide the X-Porte as our 100,000th system to one of our valued customers,” said Rich Fabian, FUJIFILM Sonosite’s COO, who announced the recipient of the 100,000th point-of-care ultrasound system at an employee Town Hall meeting at FUJIFILM Sonosite’s Bothell headquarters on October 19th. The Sonosite X-Porte was developed to…
Estableciendo un programa de gestión del dolor agudo que genere valor
Anesthesiology News
Edward R. Mariano, MD, MAS
Con la creciente preocupación con respecto a la epidemia de opiacios en los Estados Unidos, el Dr. Edward Mariano, Jefe del Servicio de Anestesia y Cuidados Perioperatorios del Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System y Profesor del Departmento de Anestesiología, Perioperatorio y Medicina del Dolor de la Stanford University School of Medicine describe una serie de estrategias para el éxito de los hospitales al iniciar un programa de medicina para el dolor agudo. Iniciar un programa de medicamentos para el dolor agudo puede…
Cardiac Ultrasound: Echocardiography with Dr. Robert Arntfield
Point-of-Care Ultrasound and Echocardiography Go from "zero to scan" with this 5-part video series from Sonosite and Dr. Robert Arntfield. Learn about Doppler Principles, TEE, Stroke Volume, TAPSE, RSVP and more. Learn With Sonosite and Dr. Robert Arntfield Dr. Arntfield is a trained emergency physician, intensivist and traumatologist who is active with point of care ultrasound in all clinical areas. He is co-author of the textbook: Point-of-Care Ultrasound and is director of the critical care ultrasound program at Western University. He is a past course leader for the American…
What's the Total Cost of that Ultrasound System? Download Our Infographic
You've seen the ultrasound demos. You've gotten quotes from a sales person. You're trying to make a final decision between three different point-of-care ultrasound systems.
All three systems have pluses and minuses; you're thinking of more than just cost. But speaking of the cost of that point-of-care solution, do you know what the final, actual cost will be, year over year?
Of course, you know logically that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of capital equipment can be hard to determine, but that doesn't mean that you can't ask about it. (For the record, FUJIFILM Sonosite systems…
Ultrasound Guidance for Fistula Surgery in The Gambia
Point-of-care ultrasound is a valuable tool for successful dialysis fistula surgery, allowing pre-operative mapping to find a suitable site and post operative fistula scanning to check for stenosis and adequate blood flow.
Anna Jerram, a clinical vascular scientist at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, discusses the role POC ultrasound played during a recent trip to The Gambia to provide critical fistula surgery to patients.
"The current hemodialysis provision in The Gambia is limited. The Ida Bass Kidney Foundation (IBKF) was established by Sailey Fladsrud following the death of…
Ultrasound Guidelines for Pediatric Vascular Access
More than five million central venous catheter (CVC) lines are placed in hospitals each year, making it one of the most common invasive emergency room procedures. Although NICE guidelines for ultrasound-guided placement of central venous lines in adults and children were first issued in the UK in October 2002, Dr. James Bennett, Consultant Anesthetist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, describes how the debate has since moved on from whether ultrasound should be used for vascular access, to what other information and safety assurances it can provide, especially in pediatrics.…