Handheld ultrasound equipments are changing diagnosis instrument market rule. Due to it has the character of rapid diagnosis, easy to use, intuitive results, small size and low price, so it is favored by doctors, such as portable medical-x-ray unit, three channel portable ECG monitor, portable diagnostic ultrasound, portable B ultrasound scanner and so on. Therefore handheld ultrasound equipments sales have increased 21% in 2010. But according to one report published by new York city biological medical association, it pointed out that although handheld ultrasound devices sales and clinical enthusiasm are high, there are a lot of problems that don’t solve, including comprehensive disease examination reducing, overusing and gvernment subsidies.

Handheld ultrasound equipments：New stethoscope?

Altough handheld system allow doctors to finish real-time imaging examination by cheaper price, there are some places that cann’t meet people’s demand in comprehensive examination and image quality. The weight of the handheld device may be less than two pounds and the display screen is 3.5 inches and the resolution is 240 * 320 pixels. This means that doctors cann’t use handheld equipments to do some complicated diagnosis because these devices cann’t perform additional measurement and anatomy the liver or spleen structure.

The other defects of handheld instruments is that cann’t file image. Now, most of handheld system doesn’t have wireless connection and doctors cann’t file PACS image directly or input patients information. So for filing these pictures for ever, doctors must match the number of image with the patient's name, but this process is easy to make a mistake.

Due to handheld system use more and more widely and maybe lead to overuse. It will make total cost increase and put forward higher requirement of instrument quality and safety.It cann’t make sure that gvernment subsidies.

With the market expanding gradualy, can handheld system find its place in market? Easy to get image make it appear sales boom. But these equipments have strong technology. So we must find the balance point that make sure people know about how to use it but don’t limited to use it. It is very difficult to do that.

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