Orca Medical Ltd | Tel: +44 117 428 5774 - Orca Medical Ltd | Tel: +44 117 428 5774 | What to look for when buying an Ultrasound system

What to look for when buying an Ultrasound system

Posted on 10 Jan 2022

The value of ultrasound imaging is ever more widely understood, but there are significant challenges to be faced for the practitioner seeking to adopt it. This is a skill learned through experience and repetition; without equipment you can’t develop skill. Once you decide to learn, you really need to take the next step of acquiring a scanner.

Buying any ultrasound scanner can be a significant investment and the sheer range of models and prices is vast; a scanner of the type in use in a hospital Imaging department normally costs upwards of £75,000, with a ‘Point-of-Care’ system used in an emergency department around half that. On the other hand, laptop style ultrasound scanners or a technically advanced handheld ultrasound probe will cost a few thousand pounds. What makes these differences? What’s going to be right for you?

The first obvious thing to do is see what's being used in training material or on courses while the second is to seek advice from people you know who are using ultrasound in their practice already. What did they start with and why? How did it go? What would they have done differently with the benefit of hindsight? An example of a comprehensive course programme should look something like this.

Here are a few thoughts

Early stages

Do go on an introductory course to build understanding of what the technology can do for you but be aware that such courses promote ultrasound use and give a taste of what it’s like to scan. They do not teach you to scan and can mask how difficult it is to learn this skill! Orca Pod Foundation skill courses are excellent option to get hands on experience as well comprehensive knowledge. The number of students is limited per course so everyone can have ample 1 on1 time with the experts and machines.

If you really want to learn, you’ve got to begin with normal subjects to associate the patterns seen on the screen with known anatomic markers and manipulate the probe from those markers to locate and view the structures you’re interested in. It’s not easy and takes time to get right, which means practicing outside the clinical environment, on family, friends and even yourself.

At this stage you’ll probably need the scanner more at home than at work, and if the equipment is bulky, heavy or takes minutes to set up, that will be a disincentive to use anywhere!

Think about attending a course teaching these fundamentals. Ideally it should be one that provides you with a device to practice with and delivers instruction in digestible chunks, to help you learn. A POD course is ideal.

If you buy a simple scanner such as a handheld, be aware that you may not be able to progress far with it and could need to replace it quickly if you decide to aim for a professionally recognised qualification.

Once you’re set on the learning pathway

With the fundamentals of scanning and structural pattern recognition sorted, you’ll need to enter a training programme. Seek guidance from your professional body. At this stage, investing in a system of sufficient quality is essential. Not only will it have to satisfy those supervising your training, but it needs to to serve you well in clinical practice for years to come! Advice and guidance from knowledgeable, trusted sources is essential for ensuring the right choices are made because while it’s possible to make generalisations, the correct decision is always going to be a very personal one.

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