Ultrasonix at Work: Better Patient Care on the Front Lines
Dr. Rob Reardon, Director of Emergency Ultrasound
Hennepin County Medical Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| Ultrasound Usage: | 10,000+ patients every year, 200+ exams every week |
| Ultrasonix Unit: | Sonix OP, Sonix CEP |
| Transducers: | Cardiac, Abdominal, Vascular and Transvaginal |
| Frequently Used Applications: |
Abdominal, Pregnancies, Cardiac, Vascular, and Musculoskeletal |
| Benefits: |
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Every day in the emergency room, doctors make life-changing decisions based on information gathered on the fly. Rapid analysis, immediate diagnoses, and accuracy all play vital roles in ensuring the best in patient care.
On one night shift a driver lost control of his car and slammed into telephone pole, and Dr. Rob Reardon, Director of Emergency Ultrasound at Hennnepin County Medical Center, received the patient. Hypotensive with unstable vitals and two broken femurs, Dr. Reardon immediately wheeled the ER's Sonix OP System to the bedside and performed a FAST exam on the patient's abdomen. The Sonix OP showed a large quantity of free fluid in the intraperitoneal space. With blood in Morison's pouch and every other view in the FAST exam clearly visible, Dr. Reardon feared for the patient's life and rushed the patient to the Operating Room for an emergency splenectomy before treating his orthopedic injuries. The patient recovered uneventfully and was transferred to recuperation several days later.
Dr. Reardon says "In a rural setting, it's extremely important to have a bedside Ultrasound, especially in a case like this. Without an Ultrasound machine, they would take half an hour to perform a CT scan, but it's too slow for a critical case, and could result in the patient deteriorating or dying before the operation."
"Within ten years, Ultrasound will be broadly accepted and extensively used in not only every emergency department, but in all areas of critical care."Dr. Rob Reardon, Director of Emergency Ultrasound
Training on the frontline
Dr. Reardon leads a large team of residents and faculty who treat more than 100,000 patients every year at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As both a sonographer working on the front lines of a busy emergency room, and an educator at a leading university, Dr. Reardon recognizes that high performance and ease of use must go hand in hand.
"The Sonix is a great fit for training our emergency room team," says Dr. Reardon. "Our novice sonographers really benefit from its ease of use, while our more experienced practitioners love the high quality images the system delivers."
Moving Ultrasound technology forward
For Dr. Reardon, screening thousands of patients each year means he needs an Ultrasound system that can easily record and store tens of thousands of digital images and quickly share those images with other departments. "The ability to record patient images in different formats-especially right on to a USB drive, the hard drive, and other digital formats-is a great leap forward for Ultrasound technology," says Dr. Reardon. The innovative Open PC architecture and wireless connectivity of the Sonix system enables practitioners to capture and share images and streaming video instantly with other practitioners in the hospital to ensure a confident diagnosis and rapid procedures.
"I believe Ultrasonix is the up and coming Ultrasound company," says Dr. Reardon. "The ease of use of their systems, the open PC architecture that enables sonographers to easily capture digital still and video images, and their wireless connectivity definitely put them at the forefront of Ultrasound innovation."
Sonix CEP: Designed for Emergency Medicine
Dr. Reardon and his team of emergency medicine residents are faced with hundreds of critical decisions every day. With patients and attending physicians waiting for Ultrasound results, they don't have time to waste. Ultrasonix Sonix CEP system is tailor made for emergency medicine with its maneuverable design, light footprint, high powered battery, high quality images, calculations package and easy to use console. The system has everything an emergency medicine practitioner needs to deliver better patient care at the most critical time.
"I've had multiple faculty and residents tell me the Ultrasonix machine is far superior to the other traditional systems and handheld systems in our department," says Dr. Reardon. "The images are as high quality as the larger systems but with the Sonix system they do not have to struggle and push the bigger machine or handle the complexity of using the traditional systems. They are able to screen patients right at their besides, much more rapidly and efficiently with the Ultrasonix machine."
Standard Care for Critical Patients
The bottom line for Dr. Reardon is that having Ultrasonix in the emergency room results in better patient care. "We have found the most compelling reason for emergency departments to rely on Ultrasound is that it is the only way to diagnose potentially life threatening injuries or diseases in a timely manner," he says. "In trauma cases, it is quickly becoming the standard of care to have Ultrasound right at the patient's beside."
A long partnership
Based on his experience so far, Dr. Reardon is eagerly anticipating the next innovation from Ultrasonix. "The company's ability to make changes fairly rapidly and their willingness to work with emergency physicians has truly impressed me," he says. "Ultrasonix is also leading the way in helping train novice sonographers and they are adopting progressive ways to approach education such as educational podcasts. I am really excited about what they are going to come up with in the future."
Technology Focus
Sonix OP & Sonix CEP
Hennepin County Medical Center uses two Sonix Series Ultrasound machines to help deliver better patient care to more than 100,000 patients every year. They rely on their Sonix OP and the Sonix CEP designed specifically for Emergency Medicine to deliver high performance images, featuring 3D and 4D, Beam steer, Harmonic and Panoramic imaging features. The Sonix 17" flat touch screen provides ultrasound sonographers superior clarity right at a patient's bedside with its lightweight, compact portable system that moves easily from patient to patient with four swivel wheels. And with Sonix hard drive, images can be stored and archived for future reference and use. Emergency Room doctors rely on Ultrasonix open PC architecture to make easy upgrades to ensure they benefit from up to the minute Ultrasound technology.
Disclaimer: This document is of a summary nature and is provided as a medical case study for informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and the reader should not take any action, or refrain from taking action, in reliance on its contents. In no event will Ultrasonix or John Doherty be liable to any person for any loss or damage arising from the contents of this document or any reliance on such contents.