SonicCare: A new low-cost and portable device for medical tele-ultrasonography on underserved areas

Medical ultrasound has proven to be superior to other imaging modalities while scanning underserved areas. Compared to the alternatives, it is fast, safe, portable, and inexpensive. The objective of the present work is to assess the performance of a newly designed, portable, low cost and network-ready ultrasonic imaging device which can be taken to rural and underserved locations for medical diagnostic and screening: SonicCare. First, a brief description of its advantages and a comparison against two commercial ultrasonography devices while scanning a tissue mimicking phantom is presented and discussed. For experimental quality assurance, the dead zone, spatial measurement calibration, spatial resolution, functional resolution and dynamic range were tested while scanning an ATS 539 multipurpose rubber based phantom. Also, clinical image quality tests were performed on two local and one rural health services facilities. Measured dimensions and image based screening on liver, gallbladder and kidney were performed. To assess the correlation between devices measurements, the Bland-Altman method was used. The experimental quality assurance tests revealed a mean measurement error of 4.7% and a coefficient of variability of 5% while the clinical imaging test revealed that the cross-correlation precision against a clinical non-portable device was ±8.5 mm.