Hand-Held Ultrasound Imaging Now Possible with Smartphone

Computer engineers are bringing the minimalist approach to medical care and computing by combining universal serial bus- (USB)-based ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone, enabling a compact, mobile computational platform and a medical imaging device that fits in the palm of a hand.

William D. Richard, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science and engineering, and David Zar, research associate in computer science and engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL; MO, USA), have made commercial USB ultrasound probes compatible with Microsoft Windows mobile-based smartphones, helped by a US$100,000 grant Microsoft awarded in 2008. In order to make commercial USB ultrasound probes work with smartphones, the researchers had to optimize every facet of probe design and operation, from power consumption and data transfer rate to image formation algorithms.

As a result, it is now possible to build smartphone-compatible USB ultrasound probes for imaging the kidney, liver, bladder, and eyes, endocavity probes for prostate and uterine screenings and biopsies, and vascular probes for imaging veins and arteries for starting intravenous (IVs) and central lines. Both medicine and global computer use will never be the same.

According to Dr. Zar, the goal of the new system is to train people in remote areas of the developing world on the basics of gathering data with the phones and sending it to a centralized unit many miles, or half a world away where specialists can analyze the image and make a diagnosis. Dr. Zar wrote the phone software and firmware for the probes; Dr. Richard came up with the low-power probe electronics design. A typical, portable ultrasound device may cost as much as $30,000. Some of these USB-based probes sell for less than $2,000 with the goal of a price tag as low as $500.

Another promising application is for caregivers of patients with Duchene's muscular dystrophy (DMD). A degenerative disease that often strikes young boys and robs them of their lives by their late 20s, DMD is a degenerative disease for which there is no cure. The leading treatment to slow its progression is a daily dose of steroids.

The investigators have discussed a potential collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA) about integrating their probe-smartphone concept into a suite of field trials for medical applications in developing countries.

One such application could find its way to the battlefield: medics could quickly diagnose wounded soldiers with the small, portable probe and decide whether to evacuate the soldier or to treat him in the field.

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