Reviews and News on Ultrasound Machines

Echocardiogram, also known as ECHO, is an ultrasound of the heart to know its inner workings and to assess the condition of the heart.

It is mostly an initial examination to rule out abnormalities in the heart effectively. In the event of any suspicious activity the patient is further subject to detailed investigations.

Echocardiogram is similar to an ultrasonography, where a patient’s chest is smeared with transparent gel and an ultrasound transducer (sound sensitive device), is placed and moved very slowly over the heart. This instrument sends out high frequency sound waves and receives back an ‘echo’ of these waves as reflected by the heart. These echoes are recorded on a moving sheet of paper by the ultrasound machine, which is interpreted by cardiologists to check the proper functioning of the heart valves. This procedure is also known as Transthoracic echocardiogram, it is essential in initial diagnosis of conditions such as coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease etc.

With recent development in medical equipment, another procedure known as the Transoesophageal Echocardiogram is also used in detailed diagnosis of the condition of the heart. It is a procedure similar to endoscopy consisting of a miniature transducer at the end of a long flexible tube with controls on the other end to guide the probe in through the throat in order to capture clearer images for detailed analysis of the heart.

With this indispensable tool, the ability to obtain 3-dimensional images of the heart using a group of minute transducers probed into the heart cavity is invaluable. With appropriate computer programs, one can view cross sections of the heart as well as make a detailed study of the conditions of the heart and determine its treatment.

This procedure is simple and non-evasive; the patient’s throat will be sprayed with a local anaesthetic to avoid discomfort.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, ultrasound machine, ultrasound transducer

In conclusion to the qualities one would look for in an ultrasound machine, we will be looking at the arguments on new and used medical equipment, training and the maintenance and warranties associated with ultrasound equipment.

New vs. Used

When purchasing an ultrasound machine for your organization, you may have the choice of buying/leasing new or pre-owned ultrasound equipment. Just like with most things such as automobiles you can typically save thousands of dollars looking for used medical equipment with all of the specifications you need and is a couple of years old. It is best to look for a system that has been under continuous service contract or coverage. Having a system inspection and certification at the time of delivery ensures that the system is in good operational condition and ready for use.

Warranty/Service Plans

Since ultrasound machines are sophisticated machinery, it is important to make sure that maintenance and repairs are considered in the overall value proposition. Most new ultrasound machines comes with normal warranties; one year is the most common but may have a 3-5 service agreement added on to the price. There are some very good, national, non-OEM service organizations that can offer comprehensive service agreements for all pre-owned ultrasound equipment. Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you understand exactly what will be covered and how. Are the transducers covered if you drop them, are there any limitations on the coverage. You don’t want to find out after the fact that you only thought you had coverage.

Training

Unless you and your staff are already proficient in the operation of your new ultrasound machine, you’ll want to make sure that training is part of the overall package. Application training may only involve what we call “knob-ology” which is getting the sonographers up to steam on what knobs and buttons do what on a specific ultrasound system. If you are making the jump to a more sophisticated pre-owned ultrasound system, such as portable ultrasound machines, more detailed application training may be required. Make sure to understand what training needs are, both initially and on an on-going basis.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, portable ultrasound machines, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, Used Medical Equipment

In part 1 we looked at the technical specification that needs to be considered when purchasing an ultrasound machine. In part 2 we will be paying attention to qualities such as the mobility and financing of ultrasound machines.

A mobile or a static ultrasound machine

Just as it was mentioned in the technical specifications, before you decide if you want to make use of mobile or static ultrasound equipment, your choice would largely depend on various factors. Questions you need to ask yourself such as how much space you have at your disposal, what your primary function for the ultrasound device would be and how and where you would prefer to employ the ultrasound machine. Once these questions are answered, you should know if a portable ultrasound machine or a static installed device would suit your needs, purpose and practice best.

Portable ultrasound machines are the perfect solution for institutions where resources are limited, especially in remote areas or where it is required to move equipment between various separated venues to facilitate more than institution. However, this may be very comfortable, and can be seen as a cost saving method in third world countries where resources and funding are extremely limited, the down sides to portable ultrasound machines are that the versatility thereof is reasonably limited. With the majority of portable ultrasound machines it is restricted by allowing the user to connect only one ultrasound transducer at a time. In addition, with a rather small space for a keyboard, the use of a portable ultrasound device can become very challenging due to multiple functions that are assigned to most of the keys.

Financing

Paying brief attention to financing, like most expensive medical equipment, it is likely to find reasonable ways to aid in the financing of ultrasound machines such as normal credit term purchases, leasing and other options available.

New vs. Used

When purchasing an ultrasound machine for your organization, you may have the choice of buying/leasing new or pre-owned ultrasound equipment. Just like with most things such as automobiles you can typically save thousands of dollars looking for a pre-owned ultrasound with all of the specifications you need and is a couple of years old. It is best to look for a system that has been under continuous service contract or coverage. Having a system inspection and certification at the time of delivery ensures that the system is in good operational condition and ready for use.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, portable ultrasound machines, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines, ultrasound transducer

Technical Specifications

The first question you need to ask yourself before contemplating on any thing else is what will you use the ultrasound machine primarily for. After that question answered, you will know in what specific direction to look for the correct and applicable technical specifications. If you are interested in making use of an ultrasound system for use in a general practice overlapping qualities needs to be considered.

The majority of ultrasound machines are able to scan an obstetric patient, however a ultrasound device compiled specifically for a obstetric practice are more likely to consist out of more targeted features and functions relating to obstetrics. This will naturally enable the obstetrician to do ultrasound scans in shorter times and having a better view simply because the frequencies and other high definition technical attributes will be set accordingly.

The use of ultrasound for cardiovascular use is known to be one of the mostly demanded applications. The ideal echocardiography system would be as small as possible providing excellent highly quality imaging and obviously completely digital and adaptable to even the most challenging technical patient. Portable ultrasound machines serve to be the ultimate solution for in practice cardiologists especially an echocardiography system that allows you to transfer the device from a hand portable device and back to a static unit in your practice. Flexibility that proofs to be beneficial to doctor and more importantly, your patients.

However, although the specific use is the primary factor, it is imperative to pay attention to features such as frequencies and the range of adjustability, specific operational requirements such as the power output and required power source. Some other crucial technical specifications to take into consideration before making a choice on medical equipment are simple technicalities such as the size of the device and the battery life thereof. Small factors that can have huge impact in the long term.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: portable ultrasound machines, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines

It is almost impossible to think of a medical institution without being equipped with an ultrasound machine. The detailed results this type of technology has brought to the table of the medical scene has revolutionized diagnoses and treatments at large. The most gratifying aspect of ultrasound machines is the fact that the risk with previous methods and tools used to diagnose an array of medical conditions has declined tremendously.

Various techniques are applied, all depending on the condition to be treated or the organ that needs to be examined and the physical state of the patient. One of the major benefits of the use of ultrasound machines are that you do not need a lot of time to prepare a patient for an ultrasound scan.

The first thing that comes to one’s mind when mentioning the use of an ultrasound machine is an expecting mother. One would be surprised to learn that the use of obstetrics ultrasound might be the most general use for ultrasound machines, but their versatility and use reaches far beyond just pregnancies and determining the health and gender of a fetus! However, the uterus is the organ most commonly viewed by making use of an ultrasound machine.

One of the most common life saving uses of an ultrasound machine during pregnancy is to detect congenital heart disease. This allows doctors or cardiologists to make high priority treatment decisions at once.

While on the subject of the heart and saving lives, a specialized portable ultrasound machine is used to perform an echocardiography. This type of ultrasound machine is used to view the functioning and present state the heart is in. With the use of ultrasound, serious malfunctioning of the heart, heart valves and blood vessels can be detected soon enough and with accuracy, which resulted in saving plenty of patient’s life. Echocardiography is an extremely useful method to discover blood clots in heart chambers, damage to the heart muscle, detecting aneurysms, congenital heart disease, large blood vessel complications etc.

Ultrasound Machine Tags: Medical Equipment, portable ultrasound machines, ultrasound machine, Ultrasound Machines