Hand-Held Ultrasound Transforms Primary Care

A British general practitioner (GP) is utilizing a point-of-care ultrasound system to diagnose and monitor his patients with a variety of conditions, after seeing a system used for diagnosing muscle injuries at a musculoskeletal course.

"The real strength of ultrasound in primary care is the breadth of potential applications in general practice," explained John Doddy, a GP in Nottingham with a special interest in sports injuries. "Screening for musculoskeletal injuries or aortic aneurysms, and diagnosing gall stones, DVTs [deep venous thrombosis], breast lumps, testicular or thyroid swellings, as well as guiding injections and some antenatal scans, could all be handled in the primary care setting with sufficient training. In my experience, the patients are delighted with this new approach. They can get a better sense of what is really going on, and it is easier to explain their condition and what treatment might achieve."

The MicroMaxx system was developed by SonoSite (Bothell, WA, USA).

"The hand-carried systems available nowadays make the concept of primary care ultrasound scanning even more achievable; they boot up in seconds, and are perfectly sized and perfectly priced for use in a GP's surgery. My own experiences with my MicroMaxx system have led me to recognize the potential this technology offers to general practice, the time and money it could save in unnecessary referrals to secondary care, and the benefits it could bring to so many patients." Dr. Doddy concluded, "I truly believe that every surgery in the country should have access to a simple, noninvasive, and nonharmful form of investigation like ultrasound."

SonoSite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care.

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