AMR Future Brief| How Impactful Are Wearable Ultrasound Patches Becoming on Medical Diagnostics?
Ultrasound technology has long been an important aspect of medical imaging, offering a safe and non-invasive method for visualizing the internal structures of the body. Initially, ultrasound machines were bulky, stationary devices primarily used in clinical settings. However, with time and advancements in technology, the components have been remodeled and minimized, leading to wearable devices that can be comfortably worn on the body.
Wearable ultrasound patches represent a significant departure from traditional ultrasound machines, offering mobility and convenience at once. These patches are usually lightweight, flexible, and are attached directly to the skin, allowing for continuous monitoring without impeding the wearer's mobility. These multiple convenient yet efficient features call for a discussion on the impact that wearable ultrasound patches have on medical diagnostics.
Continuous monitoring in cardiology, obstetrics, and liver health helps in taking predictive measures
Wearable ultrasound patches provide continuous monitoring of heart conditions without the constraints of traditional bulky equipment. These patches offer real-time imaging, enabling early detection of cardiovascular abnormalities. Integrating easily into patients' daily lives, they enhance diagnostic accuracy while ensuring comfort and mobility. Such innovation empowers patients with conditions like arrhythmias or heart failure to monitor their health proactively, facilitating timely interventions and reducing the burden on healthcare systems.
Known for its handheld ultrasound devices, Butterfly Network has also been working on wearable ultrasound patches for cardiac monitoring. Eko is focused on creating digital stethoscopes and cardiac monitoring solutions. They have developed wearable ultrasound patches for remote cardiac monitoring. A subsidiary of Fujifilm, SonoSite specializes in portable and handheld ultrasound systems. They are currently exploring the development of wearable ultrasound patches for cardiology.
Wearable ultrasound patches offer transformative benefits in obstetrics by providing continuous fetal monitoring in a non-invasive and convenient manner. These patches, typically worn on the abdomen, enable expecting mothers to monitor their baby's well-being at home, reducing the need for frequent hospital visits. Companies like Sonavex and Sonography & MRI Medical Corp have pioneered such technology, offering real-time visualization of fetal movements and heart rate. L&T Technology Services also provide monitoring services for fetal growth and development during pregnancy. These patches empower expectant parents with greater peace of mind, enhancing prenatal care accessibility and enabling early detection of potential complications, and facilitate timely medical interventions when necessary.
Furthermore, these patches have significant benefits in liver health management, facilitating early detection of abnormalities such as fatty liver disease or liver fibrosis. Continuous monitoring allows timely intervention and treatment adjustments, optimizing patient care and outcomes, empowering patients with chronic liver conditions to participate in their health management, and promoting adherence to treatment plans and lifestyle modifications for improved liver health.
Sonic Incytes Medical Corp has developed VelacurTM, a wearable ultrasound patch specifically designed for monitoring liver health in patients with chronic liver diseases. VelacurTM offers a non-invasive way to assess liver fibrosis and steatosis, providing valuable insights into disease progression and treatment response. VelacurTM empowers patients to take proactive control of their liver health and facilitates personalized management strategies in collaboration with healthcare providers, enabling regular monitoring outside of traditional clinical settings.
Bridging the gap between sports and emergency medicineWearable ultrasound patches are also implemented in sports medicine, offering athletes a portable solution for monitoring musculoskeletal injuries. Athletes can apply these patches directly to affected areas, allowing for continuous ultrasound imaging of soft tissue injuries, such as strains or tears. Companies like Healcerion and SonoSite have developed portable and wearable ultrasound devices tailored for sports medicine applications. These patches facilitate timely intervention, aid in rehabilitation planning by enabling on-the-go diagnostics and treatment monitoring, and optimize recovery protocols, helping athletes return to peak performance faster and minimizing the risk of re-injury.
In emergency medicine, they provide vital assistance, enabling rapid assessment of trauma, internal bleeding, or organ damage in pre-hospital settings or remote areas through immediate and portable imaging capabilities. Emergency responders can swiftly visualize critical conditions, guiding triage decisions and treatment plans. Moreover, these patches facilitate continuous monitoring during transportation, ensuring ongoing evaluation of patient status. Speeding up the time in the diagnosis process and enabling prompt interventions, wearable ultrasound patches enhance emergency care, potentially saving lives and improving outcomes.
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For example, Butterfly iQ, developed by Butterfly Network, is a handheld ultrasound device that connects to a smartphone or tablet, offering high-quality imaging capabilities in a compact and portable form factor. With its versatile applications across various medical specialties, one of which is emergency medicine, Butterfly iQ is empowering healthcare providers to deliver point-of-care diagnostics in diverse clinical settings, from rural clinics to remote field hospitals.
Final lines
Wearable ultrasound patches have brought significant acceleration in medical diagnostics, facilitating unparalleled mobility, convenience, and real-time monitoring capabilities. Covering a wide range of fields like cardiology, obstetrics, sports medicine, and emergency care, these innovative devices are reshaping patient care across a wide range of medical specialties. With technological progress, automated services and incorporation of AI and ML, these patches are expected to further enhance diagnostic accuracy, improving patient outcomes, and transforming the practice of medicine as we know it.
Discover more interesting information and industry updates about wearable ultrasound patches and many other topics related to it, by reaching out to our analysts today. Also, if you have further queries that require immediate response, check out our chat window.
✍ **𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓: Saranya Ganguly