[May 05, 2011] Ultrasound aEUR" It's not just for babies Tweet May 04, 2011 (The State - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- You might have seen the clever television advertisement for GE's Vscan hand-held ultrasound device. Medical practitioners through the centuries are shown lifting up a young patient's shirt to examine his abdomen, saying "Let's take a look." Until the most recent period, they are literally taking a look at the abdominal surface with their eyes. Now, they can take a look under the surface with an ultrasound device. It's only partially aimed at selling the Vscan devices, with displays that look remarkably like flip-up iPhones. The website listed at the end of the ad (healthymagination.com) features plenty of general health advice, including separate links to more information about the Vscan for patients and for physicians. Only physicians are eligible to buy the $8,000 devices. Of course, the folks at GE Healthcare wouldn't mind if you encourage your physician to get one of those cool devices from the commercial. They know patients notice new technology. "Doctors tell us when they pull (a Vscan) out of their pocket, the patients are impressed," said Agnes Berzsenyi, who was in Columbia last week showing off the devices at the World Congress on Ultrasound in Medical Education. GE Healthcare is aggressively marketing its new device. The company had two booths -- the first and last -- among the informational exhibits in the Columbia Convention Center. But there were plenty of interesting displays between the GE booths, an indication of the future of ultrasound technology in medicine. Take the delightfully named Limbs and Things, which sells training products for the health care industry. The Limbs and Things display included what looked like a rubberized human torso. The interior of the torso was even more lifelike than the exterior. Squirt a little jelly on the torso, scan it with an ultrasound device, and you'll find what to the device appears to be a working heart and lung. It's ideal for training physicians to perform ultrasounds, and it costs just $18,000. "You know how pilots use a flight simulator before they go up in a plane?" said Graham Whiteside, who was demonstrating the devices. "Doctors have to learn how to control the ultrasound machines." Another manufacturer, Simulab Corp., offered SonoMan. It's not a new super hero (though there is an obscure comic book character with a similar name). Instead, it's an ultrasound training torso that has male internal characteristics. The one on display cost $7,495, but the cost varies depending on which organs are included. Soma Access Systems showed off what looks like a snub-nosed plastic squirt gun but actually was ExactTrack, an ultrasound device that provides real-time needle visualization technology. In other words, it helps somebody inserting a venous catheter to see where the needle is going. Dr. Stephen F. Ridley of Columbia, a 2001 graduate of the USC School of Medicine, designed the device, first sketching the idea on a cocktail napkin. SonoSite's NanoMaxx looked like a cross between two "Toy Story" characters -- Etch-A-Sketch and Mr. Mike. But that's not a microphone, it's an ultrasound wand. And that screen doesn't show Etch-A-Sketch lines, it shows the sonic reflection of organs. The NanoMaxx is much larger than the Vscan and weighs a whopping six pounds, but larger is a relative term when compared to the refrigerator-sized carts used to hold older ultrasound machines. Mobisante showed off its MobiUS hand-held device, with a wand that looked like a microphone that plugs into a smart phone. The ultrasound image appears on the phone screen. Alas, the physician can't take a call on the phone between swipes of the ultrasound wand. Because of privacy regulations, the phones are reprogrammed and have limited functions, said David Zar, chief technology officer for Mobisante. While it can't be used to phone a friend, the MobiUS has a world of other possibilities, like most of the new ultrasound technology on display at the World Congress. "Imagine a nurse practitioner visiting a pregnant woman hundreds of miles from the nearest clinic," Zar said. "She could use this to take a look at the baby." To see more of The State, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thestate.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The State, Columbia, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]