• Humans
• Female
• Image-Guided Biopsy/instrumentation
• Image-Guided Biopsy/methods
• Phantoms, Imaging
• Ultrasonography, Interventional/instrumentation
• Ultrasonography, Interventional/methods
• Education, Medical, Undergraduate/methods
• Clinical Competence
• Adult
• Ultrasonography, Mammary/instrumentation
• Breast/pathology
• Breast/diagnostic imaging
• Students, Medical
• Breast Neoplasms/pathology

• Universitätsklinikum Regensburg (8921)

• Education
• Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)
• Point of care ultrasound
• Quality improvement
• Relative value units

• Workflow
• Ultrasonography/methods
• Point-of-Care Systems/organization & administration
• Intensive Care Units/organization & administration
• Documentation/methods
• Humans
• Electronic Health Records
• Critical Care
• Radiology Information Systems/organization & administration
• Systems Integration

• Ultrasound; Anatomy; Medical education; Clinical application

• Stellenbosch University

• bedside ultrasonography
• emergency departments
• emergency residency
• point-of-care-ultrasound
•  barriers

• handheld ultrasound
• medical education
• medical students
• ultrasound training

• bony landmark
• osteopathic education
• osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM)
• palpation
• transverse process
• ultrasound

• Humans
• Palpation/methods
• Ultrasonography/methods
• Physical Examination
• Curriculum
• Students, Medical

• general practitioners
• handheld ultrasound
• rural and remote
• tele-mentored

• 2020E0282 the Science and Technology Assistance Subject for Xinjiang

• Humans
• Education, Medical, Undergraduate
• Curriculum
• Ultrasonography
• Goals
• Physicians

• Humans
• Ultrasonography/methods
• Elasticity Imaging Techniques
• Contrast Media

• Humans
• Education, Medical, Undergraduate
• Point-of-Care Systems
• Ultrasonography
• Physical Examination

• Humans
• Ultrasonography
• Physicians

• Medical education
• Preclinical medical curriculum
• Ultrasound
• Ultrasound education

• Community practice
• Facilitators
• Point of care ultrasound
• Prehospital care
• Primary care
• Ultrasound practitioners

• COVID-19
• Echoscopy
• Point-of-Care ultrasound
• Portable ultrasound

• Curriculum recommendations
• Education
• International consensus conference
• Medical student
• Ultrasound
• Undergraduate

• UL1 TR001863 NCATS NIH HHS

This study aimed to assess the feasibility and efficiency of self-learning with or without self-training (subjects performed scans on themselves) and telepresence instruction in focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) education for medical students.

This study included 24 medical students. The participants initially completed a written pre-test and were randomized into a video lecture (participants watched a video lecture) or self-training (participants watched a video lecture and self-performed FOCUS) group. After finishing self-learning, they completed a written post-test. Then they undertook a skill pre-test and a first perception survey. Telepresence instruction was then provided. Finally, they undertook a skill post-test and a second perception survey.

The written post-test total scores were significantly higher than the pre-test total scores (P < 0.001). In the skill pre-test, the scores for the video lecture and self-training groups were not significantly different (P = 0.542). The skill post-test total scores were significantly higher than the skill pre-test total scores (P = 0.008). Forty-two percent of the video lecture group participants agreed that the video lecture was effective preparation for the skill pre-test, while all participants in the same group agreed that the combination of the video lecture and telepresence instruction was effective preparation for the skill post-test.

This study demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of self-learning followed by telepresence instruction on FOCUS for medical students.

• Focused cardiac ultrasound
• Handheld device
• Self-training
• Telepresence instruction
• Undergraduate medical education

• Educational Measurement
• Humans
• Learning
• Students, Medical
• Surveys and Questionnaires

• Point-of-care ultrasound
• Ultrasound
• Undergraduate medical education
• Vertical curriculum

• Handheld ultrasound
• Medical education
• Switzerland
• Ultrasound education

• Abdomen
• Lung
• Medical education
• Pocket-sized ultrasound
• Resident
• Ultrasound physics

Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has been a part of emergency medicine (EM) training for almost two decades. EM training program has a very broad and rigorous POCUS curricula which, in several cases, does not translate to routine application in clinical settings. This study therefore sought to compare the indications, utilization, barriers, and preferred POCUS educational method in a large Middle Eastern academic EM.

A validated questionnaire was emailed to 50 EM faculties between April and May 2019. Volunteer faculty members partook in a semi-structured interview to better understand the indications, current use, barriers, and preferred learning method. Responses were anonymous, and data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

This was a mixed design study. 30/50 (60%) of faculty responded to the survey, with a mean age of 39.2 years and a mean number of years in practice, 13.1. 55% (n=28) completed POCUS training in less than five years, while 45% completed more than five years ago and 5% never completed it. Forty percent of EM physicians were trained in Africa, while 55% were qualified in Asia and 5% completed their training in Europe. The indications and frequently performed procedures were consistent with the previous research. The common barrier reported was lack of time, lack of credentialing, lack of quality assurance, and national guidelines. The majority of the faculty preferred a blended learning approach for POCUS.

POCUS perceived barriers to its full use include time constraints, lack of national guidelines, and credentialing (awarding POCUS qualifications) of the faculty. Blended learning appears to be the preferred approach towards acquiring the knowledge and skills of POCUS.

• POCUS
• blended learning
• emergency medicine
• learning method
• point of care ultrasound

• Echocardiography
• Emergency Service, Hospital
• Humans
• Physicians
• Point-of-Care Systems
• Ultrasonography

• Delphi study
• Point-of-care testing
• curriculum
• general practice
• primary care
• ultrasonography

• Consensus
• Curriculum
• Delphi Technique
• General Practitioners
• Humans
• Needs Assessment
• Point-of-Care Systems
• Scandinavian and Nordic Countries
• Ultrasonography/methods

Portable ultrasound machines are now common, used for point-of-care applications and needle guidance for percutaneous procedures; however, the effectiveness of portable ultrasound in evaluation of the musculoskeletal system has not been fully assessed.

To prospectively evaluate the use of portable hand-held ultrasound in comparison with conventional cart-based ultrasound in evaluation of the musculoskeletal system.

Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2.

In this institutional review board–approved, prospective study, 100 consecutive patients with informed consent were imaged through use of both portable and cart-based ultrasound equipment using 12-5 MHz linear transducers. Agreement in ultrasound diagnosis was documented along with expected clinical changes in management if there was disagreement (definitely no, probably no, uncertain, probably yes, definitely yes). Imaging details of disagreement cases were recorded, and descriptive statistics were calculated.

There were 42 male and 58 female patients (mean ± SD age, 53 ± 13 years) imaged over a time period of 20 months. Anatomic areas scanned were the shoulder (n = 30), elbow (n = 11), hand and wrist (n = 15), hip (n = 10), knee (n = 11), foot and ankle (n = 12), and others (n = 11). Scanning with conventional ultrasound revealed abnormality in 92% of patients. Agreement in diagnosis made between portable versus cart-based ultrasound was found in 65% of patients. In the 35% of patients with discordant results, the change in diagnosis resulted in no change in clinical management in 46%, probably no change in 29%, uncertain change in 14%, probable change in 11%, and definite change in 0%. The diagnoses changing management (4%; 4/100) included nondetection of a satellite nodule (n = 1), ganglion cyst (n = 1), hernia (n = 1), and underestimated tendon tear (n = 1).

When compared with conventional cart-based ultrasound, a musculoskeletal diagnosis using portable hand-held ultrasound was concordant or was discordant without clinical relevance in 96% (96/100) of patients. Knowledge of benefits and limitations of portable hand-held ultrasound will help determine areas where specific types of ultrasound equipment can be used.

• cart-based ultrasound
• diagnostic ultrasound
• musculoskeletal ultrasound
• portable ultrasound

• Structural heart disease
• children
• echocardiography
• pocket-sized ultrasound device
• population-based study

• biomedicine
• ferroelectric materials
• physical stimuli

• National Natural Science Foundation of China
• National Key Research and Development Program of China

• education
• hand surgery
• imaging
• ultrasound
• wrist surgery

• Cadaver
• Clinical Competence/statistics & numerical data
• Fellowships and Scholarships
• Hand/diagnostic imaging
• Hand/surgery
• Humans
• Ultrasonics/education
• Ultrasonography/methods

• FoCUS
• devices
• echocardiography
• handheld
• pocket size

• auscultation
• cardiac physical examination
• medical history
• medical sciences
• stethoscope

• diagnostic imaging
• general practice
• point-of-care testing
• practice-based research
• primary care
• screening
• ultrasonography

• Curriculum
• Education, Medical/methods
• Humans
• Inventions
• Point-of-Care Systems
• Students, Medical
• Ultrasonography

Hand-held imaging devices are widely used in clinical practice and are a useful tool. There is no published review examining the diagnostic parameters achieved with these devices in clinical practice.

We searched three online medical literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE and MEDLINE) for all literature published up until January 2018. We selected studies that (1) were conducted in the adult population; (2) used a truly hand-held device; (3) featured sensitivities and/or specificities on the use of the hand-held scanner. We extracted and summarised the diagnostic metrics from the literature.

Twenty-seven articles were excluded from the initial 56 relevant articles, as the device featured was not truly hand-held. Ultimately a total of 25 studies were analysed. Sixteen studies were carried out by experienced users, seven by users with little previous experience and two studies by nurses. High diagnostic parameters were achieved by all three groups when scanning cardiac pathology and intra-abdominal structures. Training of non-expert users varied, taking a mean of 21.6 h. These hand-held devices can change diagnoses at the bedside and be used as gate-keepers to formal echocardiography. Individual studies show them to be cost-effective.

Hand-held echocardiography is a useful tool in the hands of experts and novices alike. Studies conducted are highly heterogeneous making it difficult to pool data for the diagnostic metrics. Further studies with rigorous methodology are needed to evaluate the true diagnostic potential in the hands of non-experts and in the community as well as to validate training protocols.

• pocket-sized imaging devices
• hand-held ultrasound
• echocardiography
• sensitivity

Although significant advances in clinical monitoring technology and clinical practice development have taken place in the last several decades, in this editorial we argue that much more still needs to be done. We begin by identifying many of the improvements in perioperative technology that have become available in recent years; these include electroencephalographic depth of anesthesia monitoring, bedside ultrasonography, advanced neuromuscular transmission monitoring systems, and other developments. We then discuss some of the perioperative technical challenges that remain to be satisfactorily addressed, such as products that incorporate poor software design or offer a confusing user interface. Finally we suggest that the journal support initiatives to help remedy this problem by publishing reports on the evaluation of medical equipment as a means to restore the link between clinical research and clinical end-users.

• Gastroenterology
• Physical examination
• Point-of-care ultrasonography
• Training
• Ultrasonography