Medical Technology

GE Healthcare Introduces Pocket-sized Visualisation Tool for Point-of-care Imaging

Key differentiator for physicians with critical insight during life & death/emergency care situations

GE Healthcare recently announced the launch of Vscan, a new, revolutionary, pocket-sized visualisation tool developed to provide physicians with imaging capabilities at the point-of-care. Roughly the size of a smart phone, Vscan houses powerful, ultra-smart ultrasound technology that provides clinicians with an immediate, non-invasive method to help secure visual information about what is happening inside the body. Vscan is portable, battery operated and can easily be taken from room to room to be used in many clinical, hospital or primary care settings.

" Vscan is designed to be complementary to the stethoscope — to help physicians go beyond what they can hear to what they can see. Vscan may become as critical as a stethoscope to a physician in helping to detect disease more quickly. Vscan can reduce the need for more tests and referrals during physical examinations and could make healthcare more accessible to people in India. Vscan naturally echoes our healthymagination commitment to bring high quality healthcare at lower cost to more people around the world," said V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia.

"The most common practice we (physicians) follow to assess health is to monitor pulse and listen through a stethoscope. To make rapid diagnosis, especially critical, in life threatening situations we need to take a look inside the body. Every minute saved can save a precious life," said Dr P C Reddy, Executive Chairman, Apollo Hospitals.

Vscan has the ability to be the first point of detecting disease conditions, even in primary care settings. Vscan leverages GE's high-quality black and white image technology for anatomy and color-coded blood flow in a device that fits into a pocket. It weighs less than one pound, 3 inches wide and 5.3 inches long. Vscan may prove invaluable for physicians in today's busy practice environment including primary care physicians and those specializing in cardiology, emergency/critical care, women's health, pediatric as well as hospitals. Vscan is a revolutionary marvel and has already made it to top 50 inventions revealed by TIME Magazine1 recently.

“The portability of imaging devices and the capability to transfer images using the internet is well suited for a country like India as we simply do not have the infrastructure and /or manpower to provide care to the large population living in rural areas. Vscan is capable of scanning up to 30 patients with its one hour battery power backup,” added Raja. Physicians can store patient images with its 4GB memory card expandable upto 32 GB. The high image quality combined with simple, familiar, intuitive user interface that can be controlled using the thumb helps facilitate disease detection. Using a familiar dial key interface, physicians can zoom images in and out, pan left and right for analysis. Clinician can store images, add voice annotations and the docking station plus cable link helps the transfer of data to a PC for organising or sharing with experts through e-mail or internet.

EH News Bureau