New Pocket Ultrasound Lets Doctors Diagnose at Patient's Side

Stethoscopes have been around for almost 200 years. But what if a doctor could pull out of his pocket an ultrasound device that could let him “look” at your heart while he’s examining you in his office? And what if you could be diagnosed and treated faster than ever?

Now physicians can. According to a story at digitaljournal.com, as reported at prnewswire.com, Vscan, an ultrasound that fits in a pocket has been found to work in peer-reviewed research, as led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI), part of the Scripps Research Institute, and Scripps Health, a $2.3 billion, private not-for-profit integrated health system based in San Diego, Calif., that treats a half-million patients a year, according to the story as posted at prnewswire.com., and published in the July 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The creators of the Vscan™ pocket say it is about the size of a smartphone, according to the Scripps researchers, and it’s used for point-of-care (at the patient’s side) analysis of heart health, according to the story at prnewswire.com. The Vscan’s inventors believe it could save significant costs over traditional echocardiograms.  It was cleared for sale by the FDA in February 2010.

"Pocket echoes used during physical examinations may have the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary echocardiograms, particularly when used by a clinician trained in obtaining and interpreting the images," said Dr. Eric J. Topol, cardiologist at Scripps Clinic, chief academic officer at Scripps Health, director of Scripps Translational Science Institute and principal investigator on the study, as quoted in the story at prnewswire.com. "Approximately 20 million echocardiograms are conducted in the U.S. every year, each costing $1,500 or more and requiring a return appointment for a hospital or clinic echo laboratory for an extended session of about 45 minutes. A pocket echocardiogram could significantly reduce costs and improve the quality of the patient experience."

According to a story reported by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore at news.cnet.com, because the device allows physicians to see inside the body without having to make a separate appointment for an ultrasound, diagnoses and treatment plans may be quicker. GE, which makes Vscan, says it weighs less than a pound, boasts image quality that was until recently only available via console ultrasounds.

"The traditional stethoscope was invented in 1816, but that instrument is more accurately described as a 'stethophone' as it only allows us to listen rather than look at the heart. The Vscan™ allows the doctor and patient together to look at the patient's heart during a routine physical exam," said Dr. Topol, as quoted in the story at prnewswire.com. "The echocardiogram and other current imaging techniques offer a view inside the chest. However, these are big expensive machines require a significant amount of time to get test results.  A convenient pocket device could provide doctors and patients with important information about heart health immediately, right at the point of care."

The story goes on to say that Dr. Topol notes that cardiologists don’t often review echocardiogram images with their patients, but with the Vscan, a cardiologist can talk to a patient about his or her heart condition while looking at real-time images.

This study is an extension of Scripps' leadership in heart care and research.