British Columbia-based Clarius Mobile Health has launched its second-generation series of wireless ultrasound scanners, putting the functionality and image quality of larger systems in a device that fits in a pocket.
“Handheld ultrasound is revolutionizing the delivery of patient care,” says Clarius CEO Laurent Pelissier, whose company pioneered handheld ultrasound devices with its first release in 2016. Pelissier says there are 25 million medical professionals globally who don’t have access to medical imaging.
“They are trying to guess what’s happening inside the patient—such as during labor and delivery in underserved communities, or knowing where to inject pain management medication, or for paramedics being able to determine internal bleeding at the accident site,” Pelissier says. “We are taking the high performance only found in expensive, high-end machines and making it available to the mainstream medical community to use anytime, anywhere.”
Alan Hirahara, MD, FRCSC, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Sacramento, was among the first physicians to test the second generation Clarius L15 scanner. “It’s the perfect size and weight and allows great control while doing injections or surgery,” Hirahara says. He also uses the device at sports games for quick diagnostics on the field and in the training room.
