Pocket-sized echocardiograph

A new pocket-sized echocardiograph is available to aid bedside diagnosis. The device is ACUSON P10™ ultrasound system which weighs only 725 grams. It provides fundamental and harmonic 2D images and has a USB port for information sharing. The specifications are available at the Siemens website. A recent study from Japan (Shota Fukuda, et al, Circ J 2009; 73: 1092 – 1096) assessed the feasibility and accuracy of using this device in the assessment of cardiac chamber size and function compared to standard transthoracic echocardiography. They studied 125 unselected patients and found that echocardiographic measurements were completed in all patients (100% feasibility) with pTTE (pocket-sized portable trans thoracic echocardiography) and sTTE (standard trans thoracic echocardiography). Left ventricular dimensions, fractional shortening, interventricular septal and posterior wall thickness, left atrial and aortic dimensions obtained by pTTE showed excellent correlation with sTTE.