Hand-Held Ultrasound System Designed for Point-of Care Triage

A compact, hand-held point-of-care ultrasound system is being used for imaging of musculoskeletal anatomy.

Shropshire County Primary Care Trust's Advanced Primary Care Service (APCS; Shrewsbury, UK) relies on SonoSite's (Bothell, WA, USA) M-Turbo point-of-care ultrasound system for the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal problems as part of its specialist orthopedic service.

Dr. Chris Tomlinson, a doctor with a special interest in sports medicine and joint and soft tissue injection at Shropshire APCS, said, "Ultrasound scanning forms an essential part of my clinical examination in musculoskeletal triage. The ability to carry it out at a primary care level is making a real difference and is enabling us to guide treatment far more accurately. I use the M-Turbo extensively for diagnosis, particularly for shoulders, but also to pinpoint injuries to soft tissues like the Achilles and patella tendons. I also frequently use the M-Turbo to guide injections for pain relief, particularly when injecting small or difficult to locate joints, such as the acromioclavicular joint in the shoulder.”

Dr. Tomlinson additionally noted that the system itself is easy to use and it is particularly useful to be able to store images for comparison and for future reference. Several of his colleagues who routinely use large and expensive high-end scanners have noticed and been impressed with the image quality achieved with such a compact, hand-carried instrument.

"Having the M-Turbo in the clinic has reduced the number of patients we refer to secondary care for further diagnosis,” Dr. Tomlinson added. "It is a real advantage to patients to be examined and see results there and then rather than waiting several weeks for follow-up appointments and test results.”

SonoSite, Inc. is a developer focused on bedside and point-of-care ultrasound and ultrahigh-frequency micro-ultrasound technology and impedance cardiography equipment. The company'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.

Related Links:
Shropshire County Primary Care Trust's Advanced Primary Care Service
SonoSite