Startup scores FDA clearance for cheaper, smartphone-based ultrasound system
An Arizona-based tech startup has earned clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for a new ultrasound machine that can interface with cellphones and tablets.
Emagine Solutions Technology said it soon plans to start marketing its VistaScan mobile ultrasound platform in the U.S. following the approval. It consists of FDA-cleared imaging probes that can connect with clinician’s smart devices for on-the-go testing, according to an announcement.
"The velocity and complexity of modern medicine is becoming overwhelming, and putting the power of ultrasound into the pockets of clinicians so they can use it for real time diagnosis right at the bedside is liberating and transformative," Berndt Schmit, MD section chief of emergency radiology at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, said in an announcement.
The Tucson company also noted that its Dynamic Precise Point Measuring System allows docs to make to-the-pixel measurements on ultrasound images using mobile devices. This allows users to increase both diagnostic performance and speed, according to the announcement.
Tucson native and University of Arizona grad Courtney Williams co-founded the company after her sister was bedridden during a difficult pregnancy, the Arizona Daily Star reported last year. Their goal is to address disparities, with 50% of the world lacking access to ultrasound.
There are a number of mobile ultrasound systems on the market, the report noted. However, Williams said this system carries about one-tenth the price tag of traditional, cart-based imaging machines (though it does not offer all of the same functions).
“We are moving towards handheld to find quick answers, to rule things out quickly, before moving to those larger machines,” she told the newspaper.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.