The engineering team here at Ultrasonix is focused on delivering reliable and durable products to market. One tool we use to determine possible issues is to run a series of tests on a vibration table to simulate real world transport and daily use conditions. We applied random vibration and shock loading to the Sonix Touch system to see how it would perform. Check out the video showing the Sonix Touch on the Vibration Table.
The system performed quite well. Using Solid State Harddrives ensures system recovery even after aggressive random vibration and shock loading with power being applied to the system.

SonixGPS was the most talked about product on the show floor of this years ASA. Several luminaries joked that they were no longer necessary to teach needle guidance and one doctor said it was the greatest addition to ultrasound in 20 years.

The most respected luminaries from every corner of the world came and played with SonixTOUCH and SonixGPS. Almost all of them had an “Ah Ha” moment once they saw the needle come out exactly where the “X” was on the screen.

Our booth was extremely crowded and at times we had several of the most respected names in Regional Anesthesia scanning side by side.

Ultrasonix recently attended the IEEE Ultrasonics conference in Rome with great success. We showcased the SonixTOUCH Research platform and had excellent feedback. Not only did we meet with new faces, but also got to reconnect with dozens of customers who are using various Ultrasonix research systems.

A few highlights:
- Almost half of the presentations for medical ultrasound research reference the Sonix devices. This is attributed to our dedication to providing custom solutions to researchers as well as our real-time customer support via our research forum and documentation wiki
- IEEE held an industrial forum for the first time, and Ultrasonix go to present there. We did a 15 minute presentation to over 50 individuals, and got to talk about the SonixTOUCH and it’s research capabilities

On October 9, we invited various customers and other ultrasound research laboratories from the UK to our offices in High Wycombe, a suburb of London. Again, we demonstrated the SonixTOUCH research, and got to listen to a great presentation from University College London on their prostate biopsy research being performed using the Sonix RP system. Great feedback and great attendees made this fun and I definitely look forward to holding more mini-forums for our researchers, in UK and abroad.

ACEP was an outstanding show for Ultrasonix…. We are investing more heavily and with more focus to address our key markets – Emergency Medicine is one of our primary target markets and we elected to support this event significantly this year. Our presence was well noticed as our footprint was larger than most other Ultrasound Companies. You can tell this year the larger medical companies have cut marketing budgets and their presence was much reduced compared to last year – which gives us more visibility.

The key message we want to convey our customers is that we listen to their input, and look at their entire set of clinical needs. Rather than provide “yet another ultrasound machine” and only address Imaging and Form Factor, we are focused in providing better value to our customers by addressing Workflow, Connectivity as well as standardization/compliance/QA and Billing. We provide solutions that are specifically designed for our customers, in of our primary markets. What enables that flexibility is our OpenSONIX software-based platform that can accept Plug-ins solutions.

For Emergency Medicine, Ultrasonix offers unique solutions that addresses the entire continuum of care:

1)       SonixTOUCH, combined with SonixHUB is a unique solution that provides for streamlined workflow. We designed this solution with the help of our Emergency Medicine customers, with simplicity and ease of use in mind for departments that do their own credentialing. More info in the SonixTOUCH EMed page….

2)       SonixTOUCH, combined with eHealthConnex, also provides for streamlined workflow and seamless integration with eHealthConnex online QA and Credentialing tool, that would be the solution of choice when overread needs to be done remotely.

The show had very good attendance this year and we have a record number of leads – we are also planning to get more direct sales coverage on Board after talking a few new potential representatives.

The other technology that drew a lot of attention is SonixGPS – more soon on this one… Almost everyone who saw it thought it will revolutionize medicine, we are quite excited about releasing this soon. It further reinforces our focus in providing unique, better workflow solutions for our users.

A few pictures of the show…

We are pleased to announce 3 great additions to the team…

Jim Lucas, General Manager, Europe

Jim Lucas is based in the United Kingdom and has over 15 years of Clinical and Sales Management experience in the medical ultrasound industry in the EMEA region. Before joining industry, Mr. Lucas practiced for 11 years as a cardiovascular/respiratory clinical Physiologist in a number of hospitals in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Ultrasonix, Mr. Lucas served in various Sales and Management positions with SonoSite Inc. and Philips Medical Systems where he effectively grew revenues and developed business.

Jim holds a Degree in Physiology and a post graduate diploma in medical ultrasound.

David Woodhead, General Manager, Middle-East and Africa

Mr David Woodhead has over 24 years of Technical and Sales Management experience in the Healthcare industry, 15 years of which were in the international sales of Diagnostic Ultrasound Systems.

Prior to joining Ultrasonix, Mr Woodhead was International Sales Manager for enverdis GmbH, Germany, were he successfully launched  a range of novel and unique cardiovascular diagnostic systems into the international healthcare market. For many years David also held positions of increasing responsibility in International sales with Dynamic Imaging Ltd, UK.

David holds a Bachelors Degree from Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University), Leicester, UK.

Anil Rao, General Manager, India

Anil Rao brings with him over 20 years specialized experience in sales and marketing of equipment.  He has worked in diverse markets, focusing on business development and Hi-tech selling.  He has set up new businesses, set up distributorships, managed channel partners while with Alfa Laval, Bosch and Kirloskar Oil Engines.

Anil, David and Jim reflect our expanded regional efforts to increase business in various parts of the world where the Ultrasonix systems have tremendous potential.

If you look into the far back corner of the office, follow the paperclips, you will meet a fascinating fun group of dedicated professionals.  Experts at putting out fires, strong negotiators with nerves of steel and the revered keepers of information.

Not sales,  not R&D…. but …..the accounting team!

Look underneath the spreadsheets and you will find a lively bunch of pencil pushers.    A team of 6 crackerjack number crunchers who excel at assisting, processing, expediting, adapting & thinking outside the calculator box.    We may be quiet (OK- so 5 out of 6 may be quiet) (and one truly crazy) but we enjoy what we do and know we are an “asset” to USM.

Ultrasound usage is becoming a common practice with cosmetic vein surgeons to remove unsightly varicose veins. Doctors are using ultrasound to detect and visualize the vein for catheter placement and anesthesia. The use of ultrasound may help patients with insurance coverage for these proceedures.

Insurance May Cover New Vein Procedure Technology

One of the unique things about this procedure is that doctors use an ultrasound to see the vein while they perform the procedure. That device can also help patients get insurance companies to cover the costs. The ultrasound machine shows doctors when a valve in a patients veins is allowing blood to flow the wrong direction,causing pain and visible vein marks. “It is covered by most major insurance, there again its because the ultrasound can document that this is an abnormal state, it is a disease,” said Dr. Olive.

http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=184192

For those of you who want to see what the new tray looks like… here is a quick preview!

Here’s a scrimmage from last year verses the Underdogs. It’ll be great to finally get back on the ice again with the boys. You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

A new documentation wiki for research and OEM users has been created. The wiki is meant to keep up with the dynamic nature of the research software features, and allows users to add their own content as they discover new features of the system.