Cardiac

"Echocardiography is about to undergo an important and major change. With the introduction of the new Vivid i portable cardiac ultrasound system a new generation of cardiac ultrasound systems has arrived. With the appearance, dimensions and utilities of a portable computer, the Vivid i provides all the diagnostic capabilities of a clinical stand-alone ultrasound system in a small portable box. In doing this there has been no sacrifice in two dimensional image quality, blood pool Doppler quality or storage and connectivity

Initial clinical experience with this system in scanning both adult and pediatric hearts in the outpatient clinic, operating theatre and intensive care have confirmed the benefits of portability and diagnostic quality. The multi-plane transoesophageal probe with its miniaturized connector provides image quality identical to that provided by the standard multi-plane probe connected to the parent Vivid 7. The overwhelming impression is of ease of use and genuine portability. This is certainly not a portable system, which requires a team of Himalayan sherpas to move it from environment to environment! With this implicit ease of movement and diagnostic image quality we found that it was frequently easier for the doctor to go to the patient to perform the ultrasound scan, rather than the reverse. In intensive care and cardiac theatres the ease of moving and the positioning of the machine was a very marked advantage.

Now that the limitations in portable ultrasound have finally been overcome it is likely that such systems will be adopted, not only as an alternative to large stand alone ultrasound machines, but also that their use will spread out into the operating theatre, intensive care and outpatient environments. This will increase the application of cardiac ultrasound within the hospital and family practice environment, thus expanding the number of practitioners and with this the need for adequate training and certification. This should further extend the already important role of cardiac ultrasound in clinical patient care".

Professor George Sutherland
St. George's Hospital
London, United Kingdom