Siemens AG dubbed the P10, a quick portable ultrasound machine, the smallest currently on the market. Eyal Herzog, director of the cardiac-care unit at St. Luke's , who is testing the P10 has said Such gadgets could become a vital tool in emergency medicine. "Assessment of the patient is much faster, easier" than using the heavy echocardiogram machine his team wheels from room to room and the image quality is nearly equivalent.
Siemens AG dubbed the P10, a quick portable ultrasound machine, the smallest currently on the market. Eyal Herzog, director of the cardiac-care unit at St. Luke's , who is testing the P10 has said Such gadgets could become a vital tool in emergency medicine. "Assessment of the patient is much faster, easier" than using the heavy echocardiogram machine his team wheels from room to room and the image quality is nearly equivalent.
New ultrasound devices like the P10 are possible in large part because of analog chip makers, which are racing to develop electronics that allow portability. Companies such as Analog Devices Inc., National Semiconductor Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc., which make semiconductors that allow devices to gather data from patients and turn them into digital information, are working to bring to ultrasound the same kind of advances that allow for more-powerful cellphones and laptops.
Many portable medical devices, including home equipment for patients to monitor blood pressure, glucose levels and breathing, are benefiting from trends pushing health-care spending higher. Lower-cost portable ultrasound devices for hospitals and doctors' offices are also winning attention as an opportunity to expand a large existing market even more.
