Agreement with FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc. to develop clinician training

Intelligent Ultrasound Group (AIM: MED), the intelligent ultrasound software and simulation company, announces that FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc., specialists in developing cutting-edge, point-of-care ultrasound solutions, and part of the greater Fujifilm Healthcare portfolio, has entered into an agreement with the Group allowing the companies to deliver a training solution to the point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) market. The agreement includes Intelligent Ultrasound Group’s BodyWorks Eve POCUS training solution and the HeartWorks transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) simulator training platforms that can be used to accelerate training for all Fujifilm SonoSite’s POCUS systems.
 
“This agreement will allow clinicians the opportunity to work with two leading companies in their respective markets to access a robust POCUS training solution that will facilitate increased adoption of a critical imaging modality in their institutions,” said Rich Fabian, President and Chief Operating Officer of Fujifilm SonoSite.
 
BodyWorks Eve is Intelligent Ultrasound Group’s ultra-realistic patient simulator designed for interactive POCUS scenario training. It comes complete with 100 real patient scans and over 10,000 pathology variations across cardiac, lung, transabdominal and pelvic ultrasound, which will help Fujifilm SonoSite’s POCUS users train for a diverse case load in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care disciplines. Specific focus areas of this simulator include recognition of common abnormalities and pathology, assessment skills to guide decisions for patient referral or discharge, Doppler and M-mode functions and more.
 
“We are excited to join Fujifilm SonoSite in offering the ultrasound market a solution to both train and confidently perform POCUS,” said Ian Whittaker, COO and Head of the Simulation Division at Intelligent Ultrasound Group.  “We feel this agreement will have a very positive effect, not only on improving scanning skills of the clinicians, but on patient outcomes as well.”
 
The agreement also includes Intelligent Ultrasound Group’s Heartworks TTE simulator, which is designed to aid POCUS users in understanding cardiac anatomy, and TEE simulator, which will help POCUS users to develop the required cognitive and psychomotor skills for this discipline. While using Fujifilm SonoSite’s POCUS systems, clinicians have the convenience and mobility they need to address urgent cardiac conditions at a patient’s side, wherever that may be. Now with the help of Intelligent Ultrasound Group’s TTE and TEE simulators, they will have access to added training modules that will help improve their clinical knowledge and diagnostic confidence.  
 
“I look forward to working closely with Fujifilm SonoSite to implement the vision of this agreement,” said Thomas Brown, Vice President of North America Sales at Intelligent Ultrasound Group. “Being a former Cardiac Sonographer and lab instructor, I know first-hand what it is like to learn and teach ultrasound – facilitating this knowledge within a clinical setting is imperative to improve patient outcomes.”
 
Fujifilm SonoSite and Intelligent Ultrasound Group will co-exhibit at numerous conferences this fall, including the American Society of Anesthesia, The American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Emergency Physicians, as well as providing hands-on workshops where a complete ultrasound solution is sought and clinician training is needed.

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The all-in-one Omni Legend PET/CT scanner is now being manufactured in a new production facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin.