Ultrasound Machine Reviews, news, and advice

How to Manage a Vascular Screening Program

Aunt Minnie Editor Eric Ridley has posted a good article on the growing and important field of vascular screening using ultrasound. This is something that Physicians can easily add to their practice as an excellent elective exam for their patients.

The article does a nice job discussing all the things you should consider before running the screening exam and some of the pitfalls you could run into. His article is based on a talk given by Phillip Bendick, Ph.D., o fWilliam Beaumont Hospital In Royal Oak, MI.

These screening facilities are popping up everywhere in the US, and this article discusses the importance of choosing a technician wisely and being careful in the exams. The full article can be found here.

Quoted from http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup&Sub=ult&Pag=dis&ItemId=77508&wf=2077:

Radiology, Ultrasound Community

Ultrasound vascular screening offers the promise of early disease identification when performed appropriately, allowing individuals to receive preventive medicine, according to Phillip Bendick, Ph.D., of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI.

"Screening is the way to get at these people early before bad things really start to happen," he said in a session at the 2007 Leading Edge in Diagnostic Ultrasound Conference in Atlantic City.

It's important to note that vascular screening isn't for patients, since patients have diagnostic studies based on medical necessity, Bendick said. Instead, screening is performed for asymptomatic "participants."

Nor is screening a diagnostic exam, which may have 30-40 images or more; a standard screening study is typically limited to three to five images, he said. In addition, and probably most importantly, screening is essentially minimal sampling of data. As with any sampled system, screening is subject to diagnostic "aliasing," Bendick said.

"When you don't make enough samples, you may not have a true representation as to what's going on," he said. "The fewer the samples, the greater the aliasing." So screening requires a skilled sonographer, optimal equipment, and knowledgeable interpretation.

AAA screen,carotid screening,vascular screening

GE Vivid S5 and S6: Cypress and MicroMaxx Killers?

In an effort to Fill Every Possible Hole, it appears GE may have found a "real" hole here in its market...

Two unannounced products: the GE Vivid S5 and Vivid S6 ultrasounds look to fill a market that the company has allowed Siemens and SonoSite to have: a credible Low-Cost portable cardiovascular or truly shared-service portable ultrasound system. The unannounced Vivid S5 and Vivid S6 ultrasounds, aimed at being a "pocket Vivid 3", will take the lower-end GE Vivid 3 ultrasound, smush it into a laptop-sized package, and place it squarely in the market against the Acuson Cypress and the SonoSite MicroMaxx. It should have fully integrated stress echo as well as shared service capabilities, including an endocavity transducer option with the E8C-RS and TEE capabilities.

Surely the cardiac and vascular capabilities will be very good, as they are with the Vivid 3, but these machines will likely be missing the high-end options such as CrossXBeam or Compound Imaging, Strain, advanced analysis packages, and those things typically found in the $40,000-plus range. Hey, they gotta leave something for the semi-indistinguishable Vivid i and Vivid e products.

Oh, but one thing..: it's important to note that much of this is speculation and rumor: ie: documentation that I've seen doesn't actually state that these systems are "portable", however, it is listed that these will all run the "RS" probes, which are the transducers specifically built for hand carried units. My math says portable.

The products are under wraps and unannounced with no truly public documentation, so release dates are anybody's guess. However, surely they'd like to get this product out as soon as possible. SonoSite is expected to release a new product in the fourth quarter, and MicroMaxx's popularity refuses to cede as SonoSite becomes a household name. But assuming they don't screw this up... it seems that for the first time in a while, GE might be creating something that doesn't displace or compete against one of its own products... although the price-point will be interesting as some GE sales reps are known to sell the Vivid e for pennies when competing against the Cypress and MicroMaxx... so it's possible the Vivid e, S5, and S6 will just play in each other's sandbox. Time will tell which one gets its own Tonka.

GE Vivid,Portable Cardiology ultrasound,cardiac ultrasound,hand carried ultrasound,SonoSite,Acuson,Cypress Ultrasound

Ultrasound Screening Gets Boost at Conference

Quoted from http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup&Sub=ult&Pag=dis&ItemId=77410&wf=2066:

Radiology, Ultrasound Community

Increased interest in screening examinations and early identification of disease offer an opportunity for expanded use of ultrasound, according to Dr. Edward Bluth of Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans.

"We can offer a new role for the radiologist/sonologist by aggressively moving into this area and popularizing this field," Bluth said. "With ultrasound, we can accurately, safely, inexpensively, rapidly, and cost-effectively screen healthy populations for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), carotid stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease."

He spoke during a session at the 2007 Leading Edge in Diagnostic Ultrasound Conference in Atlantic City.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid by the lay press on healthcare issues and, in particular, the value of early disease identification and the role of screening, Bluth said. As a result, a better-informed public has been demanding greater participation in their healthcare decisions, and requesting screening examinations for early identification of disease.

Another trend looming over the next year or two is the public's understanding of the increasing amount of radiation exposure they're facing from radiographic screening examinations, he said. The role of ultrasound as a safe screening tool is just now being appreciated in the press.

Possible screening tests with ultrasound currently include AAA screening, carotid stenosis screening, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) for peripheral vascular disease, Bluth said.

ultrasound,AAA,carotid,ABI screening,AAA screening,ankle-brachial index,abdominal aortic aneurysm,carotid stenosis

Price Alert: Logiq 7 BT07 with 4D and FlatScreen DEMO!

GPS Medical just received a GE Logiq 7 BT07 ultrasound with 4D, LCD flat panel, fully shared services (with cardiac) and the full suite of options. This machine is indistinguishable from new and is not an "upgraded" machine. This is an excellent alternative to the currently expensive, and hard to find, GE Voluson 730 series of systems. You can now purchase a like-new Logiq 7 ultrasound for a lower price. Typical setups start at $60,000 for OB/Gyn. Cardiac, vascular, musculoskeletal, small parts, and other setups are available with additional probes. System is noted here (GE Logiq 7) with its options. Video will be posted later this week.

GE Logiq 7,new Logiq 7,4D ultrasound,voluson 730 expert,Radiology ultrasound,best buy ultrasound

What's You're "vascular age"?

Quoted from http://www.medical.siemens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PressReleaseView?storeId=10001&langId=-11&catalogId=-11&pageId=93688:

Determining "Vascular Age": Siemens introduces a new ultrasound application for evaluating the risk of heart disease

Siemens Medical Solutions expanded its portfolio of ultrasound applications: the syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) calculates cardiovascular risks by measuring the carotid intima media thickness and determining the so-called vascular age – the relative age of the vessel. Together with other factors, such as cholesterol values and blood pressure, the physician can use the results of syngo AHP to better assess a patient’s myocardial or stroke-related risk and establish an individual prevention and treatment plan. At the ESC 2007, the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Vienna from September 1 to 5, 2007, Siemens Medical Solutions will introduce syngo AHP for the first time in Europe. The syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) determines the vascular age, that is, the advance of atherosclerotic burden and displays it to the patient. Knowing the vascular age supports the physician in more accurately determining the personal risk of a patient to develop coronary heart disease, in rendering a prognosis, and in developing a prevention and therapy plan. The new ultrasound application provides a measurement of the intima media thickness of the carotid - the innermost layer of the carotid vessel wall. An abnormal widening of the intima media is considered evidence of threatening or already existing arteriosclerosis. In addition, syngo AHP takes into account the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) database to determine the risk index from the Framingham Heart Study using the relative vascular age rather than the chronological age of the patient. To date, cardiologists use the Framingham risk factors for cardiovascular risk determination. However, the combination of vascular age, Framingham factors and ARIC data allows a more accurate determination of the risk of heart attack or stroke for up to 60 percent of patients. Syngo AHP is available on the ultrasound systems ACUSON Sequoia C512, Antares, X500 , X300 and CV 70 from Siemens. Recently, it became also available offline on the syngo Ultrasound workplace.

Siemens Ultrasound,IMT,carotid ultrasound