Managing Lung Cancer with Point-of-Care Ultrasound Technology

A British physician is using point-of-care ultrasound for the management of pleural effusions, especially in patients with lung tumors.

Dr. Ian Forrest, from the respiratory unit at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI; UK), and the hospital's clinical lead for lung oncology, explained, "I first saw the advantages of bedside ultrasound as a registrar at North Tyneside General Hospital [UK], and was very keen to develop a similar service here at the RVI. Point-of-care ultrasound is becoming much more widely used, and I'm sure it will become standard practice in many disciplines in the next few years.”

The M-Turbo ultrasound system was developed by SonoSite (Bothell, WA, USA).

"We are using our M-Turbo system for diagnosis of pleural effusions and empyemas, aspirations and insertion of drains, and have had fantastic support from radiology colleagues in terms of training and assistance. We are using the M-Turbo system in several wards and clinics, and are seeing clear benefits to patient care, as well as reducing the radiology department's workload for simple procedures. The instrument is very easy to use, with good image quality, and its portability and flexibility allow colleagues from other departments to use it for a variety of functions. The image capture function is also very useful, especially as we are moving to electronic records, making it very easy to store images with a patient's notes.”

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