Reviews and News on Ultrasound Machines

One of the most serious and often fatal conditions that can affect a child before it is born and during its first year of life is a congenital heart defect. Birth defects remain the leading cause of death for children in their first year of life, even though overall infant mortality rates are declining.

But there is good news for expectant parents and their babies, thanks to GE Healthcare. GE Healthcare has purchased exclusive rights to a new patented software technology for use in its 3D/4D Voluson ultrasound systems.

According to Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, finding congenital defects in an infant’s heart can be quite difficult. “This is due to two facts,” he says. “First, the heart is tiny. But in addition, ultrasound relies on the skill of the technician. An infant’s heart is a difficult organ to look at and the experience of the operator matters a great deal.”

Dr. Abuhamad developed Sonography-based Volume Computer Aided Diagnosis, also known as SonoVCAD. GEHealthcare has licensed this automation protocol and is using it in their Voluson EG ultrasound, designed especially for woman’s health care. Several tools designed to improve clinical workflow are also included in the new ultrasound machine, which has been available less than 12 months.

SonoVCAD automatically acquires the images that are needed for a complete view of the fetal heart. “It makes everything much simpler for the technician,” said Dr. Abuhamad. “It automates the examination of the heart prenatally, ensuring better detection of congenital heart problems.” The image is composed of views of different planes which when viewed together can show fetal heart defects and allow the physician to determine not only what type they are, but how severe they are as well. The ultrasound technician begins the process by identifying the standard starting point for such ultrasound machines, which is the four chamber view of the heart. Algorithms created by Dr. Abuhamad allow the other views to be generated from that starting point view.