Race Against Time in the Lifesaving Track: The Application of Handheld Ultrasound in Cardiac Emergencies
Special environments such as ambulances and emergency rooms are limited in space, making large ultrasound machines inadequate for the task. In such cases, a portable, lightweight, professional, and intelligent ultrasound device is needed to play a role—and handheld ultrasound was thus born.
In terms of functionality, handheld ultrasound is comparable to traditional large ultrasound machines; in terms of size, it is lightweight and portable, boasting high clinical application value. It can not only be used in hospital settings such as ICUs and operating rooms (ORs); but also perform effectively in out-of-hospital scenarios including ambulances and field rescues, assisting doctors in saving patients’ lives anytime and anywhere.
However, to play a role in acute and critical care departments such as cardiac emergencies, the technology of handheld ultrasound is particularly crucial. A handheld ultrasound device called SonoMaxx has achieved this.
Director Qian Dajun from the Cardiac Function Department of Wuxi People’s Hospital stated, “The SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound, combined with M-mode ultrasound and integrated with spectral Doppler, has essential functions for cardiac ultrasound examinations. If a handheld ultrasound lacks the Doppler function, it will be unable to conduct certain examinations of high-velocity blood flow in the heart.”
“I once encountered a 37-week pregnant woman in the emergency observation room who was suspected of having a pulmonary embolism. Due to poor acoustic window conditions, conventional ultrasound could not obtain complete parameters of the patient. After using the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound, the images and color blood flow were very clear, which provided great assistance for timely clinical diagnosis and subsequent treatment.” Director Qian particularly affirmed the difficult mode of the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound.
In addition to the technical advantages described above, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound also features a small size and excellent mobility. Therefore, it can directly conduct rapid non-invasive assessments of cardiac structure and function without interfering with the rescue process, making significant contributions to timely guiding doctors in treatment and evaluating therapeutic effects.
• Diagnosis of chest pain symptoms Most cases of chest pain in adults are caused by coronary heart disease, but a clear etiology requires further differentiation. Through ultrasound imaging, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound can identify whether chest pain symptoms are of cardiac origin. It can also provide effective assistance in the diagnosis of cardiovascular abnormalities, such as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, aortic stenosis, aortic dissection, pericarditis, mitral stenosis, and pulmonary embolism.
Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy
In addition, for life-threatening chest pain syndromes such as acute chest pain, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound can provide a diagnosis of cardiac diseases and offer evidence for valvular, pericardial, or primary myocardial diseases. It can be used to diagnose patients with clinically suspected acute myocardial infarction (whose electrocardiogram has not yet confirmed the condition) and those with hemodynamic instability, as well as to evaluate patients with hemodynamically significant pulmonary embolism. A comprehensive echocardiogram can provide information on the extent of the dissection and its complications. For patients with clinically suspected aortic dissection, its role is to detect pericardial or pleural effusion and assess the diameter of the aortic root.
• Diagnosis of Shortness of Breath or Dyspnea Symptoms
Mitral stenosis, left atrial tumor, left heart failure, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion or constrictive pericarditis, and critical or extremely critical pulmonary embolism can cause shortness of breath or dyspnea in patients. All these conditions can be diagnosed by ultrasound using the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound.
•Diagnosis of Syncope Symptoms When a patient experiences syncope, there are various possible clinical causes, such as congenital heart disease, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, tetralogy of Fallot, complete atrioventricular septal defect, and even single ventricle, transposition of the great arteries, coronary artery malformation, or bicuspid aortic valve. To identify the cause immediately, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound can also be used for timely clinical diagnosis.
Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV)
•Diagnosis of Severe TraumaThe SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound also boasts unique advantages in the diagnosis of severe trauma. Thanks to its high mobility, it can quickly identify active bleeding, assess the presence of organized ventricular contractility, and incorporate urgent lesions into rapid examinations. This greatly reduces the time required for diagnosing and treating patients with traumatic cardiac and thoracic injuries, thereby gaining valuable time for them.
Time is the key to “winning the battle”. Even a one-second saving may increase the success rate of rescuing patients with cardiovascular emergencies and severe cases by a margin. To race against time on the lifesaving track, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound has achieved technological breakthroughs in system operation, operation design, image generation and other aspects.
➊ In terms of operational speed, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound uses low-power consumption and high-performance large-scale logic devices as the main processor for parallel processing. It adopts a highly optimized multi-beam parallel signal processing algorithm and software architecture to improve program operation efficiency and reduce heat generation. The device features fast boot speed and excellent performance, which is one of the key factors for winning the time battle.
➋ In terms of operation mode, the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound adopts a fan-shaped operation interface. The single-thumb operation button is ergonomically designed. With a light tap of the thumb, the menu expands in a hierarchical arc. The workflow design is concise, which is the second key factor for winning the time battle.
➌ In terms of image generation, Xiangsheng Medical’s accumulated experience and technologies in image processing, algorithm optimization, and chip implementation have enabled the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound to achieve diagnostic-level image quality. Whether it is 2D imaging or color blood flow imaging, it is in no way inferior to large-scale ultrasound machines, fully meeting clinical needs. This is the third key factor for winning the battle against time.
Practice has proven that the SonoMaxx handheld ultrasound is not only competent for bedside examinations in emergency departments, but also can be used as a visual stethoscope for clinicians, especially those in cardiology, critical care medicine, and operating rooms.