Now a days mobile devices are being used for everything like spotting skin cancers to detecting concussions. These features of these small pocket-sized computers has enabled engineers to develop a countless portable technological devices that were until now expensive and large. One of that devices is Butterfly iQ which is a small ultrasound device that can be connected to iPhone and display clear black-and-white pictures.
Ultrasound technology has been developed rapidly in last many decades and famous brand machines, offering high-resolution images, can easily sell for well over US$100,000. Even at the other end of the spectrum, a second-hand, basic system will set a small medical clinic back $10 to $20,000. Philips, one of the market leader in ultrasound devices, recently launched a small portable scanner costing around US$6000.
But now The Butterfly iQ shakes the market as introducing a device selling under US$2000. It means now at cheap price the technology is available to the individual doctors that can be added to their diagnostic toolkit. This device is a portable and pocket-sized as well.
The device is approved by the FDA for 13 different clinical applications spanning the entire body, from abdominal and gynecological uses to cardiac or urology examinations. But currently considered a prescription device so it’s available to only licensed healthcare practitioners.
John Martin, a vascular surgeon, was examining the Butterfly ultrasound device earlier this year and he’s surprised when he found cancer in his own neck. So now Mr. Martin is one of most vocal endorsers of Butterfly iQ device, suggesting the device that can speed up diagnostic process that were taking weeks and months.
“I felt something funny in my neck, connected the probe to my phone, did an ultrasound and there it was – a tumor,” explains Martin.
There is need for further biopsy-based evidence before diagnosing cancer properly. Here the affordability and portability of this Butterfly iQ ultrasound means that it can be deployed virtually anywhere quickly and easily. Small clinics and individuals can get this pocket-sized ultrasound device because of its easily affordable price.
