Whatever device you choose, the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship requires you have access to your own device in every clinical location, and at all times. Do NOT rely on occasional access to a hospital machine (often with limited probe selection or other missing features.)
last updated: 9 May 2023
Butterfly iQ+
3 probes in 1.
~$3,477 CAD + $290-600/year (conditional)*
☙ All-in-one probe: no need to carry 3+ separate probes. Butterfly's microchip technology permits one probe to do the scanning of all three most common probes. (i.e. linear, curvilinear, phased)
☙ Robust compared to legacy technology: Butterfly is sturdy (its 4-foot drop tested.) That equates to peace-of-mind when moving your equipment between ER & clinic or using it during a busy shift.
☙ Full suite of advanced features (seldom available on hospital-based machines) including Pulsed-Wave Doppler, Needle Enhancement and others.
☙ Proprietary features / modes available only on Butterfly: Needle-Viz® and smart-algorithms to rapidly calculate bladder volume or ejection fraction, etc.
☙ Secure Butterfly Cloud Storage making it easy to store, share & review scans with your professors and co-fellows. Auto-cataloguing your scans is especially helpful during the fellowship training.
☙ Realtime remote ultrasound support is possible. i.e. connect virtually, in real time with a fellowship faculty member. We will see your images and can provide live feedback as you scan.
☙ Corded. Not sure if this is an asset or liability! (Bluetooth connections can be fickle and often delay startup, but cords can get caught and wound up or break.)
Our thoughts: At the price point, you cannot beat the rich feature set and reliability of a Butterfly iQ+.
This is a solid investment that will serve fellows well during the program, however anticipate bumping up against the ceiling of B-mode resolution as you progress in the program. On average, Butterfly's B-mode resolution is not quite as good as the more detailed resolution achieved by Clarius or the GE VScan Air (or cart-based machines.)
* The Rural Ultrasound Fellowship presently carries an medical education subscription which saves our fellows the annual subscription fee required to access all advanced features.
Clarius
Sold as single probes. (Ideally fellows have all 3.)
~$4,490 CAD per probe + $785/year*
☙ Single probe function only: thus Fellows would need to carry at least 2 separate probes (linear + curvilinear), possibly 3 (+ phase array) to get full cardiac echo functionality
☙ Full suite of advanced features (seldom available on hospital-based machines) including Pulsed-Wave Doppler & Needle Enhancement
☙ Secure Clarius Cloud Storage making it easy to store, share & review scans with your professors and co-fellows. Auto-cataloguing your scans is especially helpful during the fellowship training.
☙ Realtime remote ultrasound support is possible. i.e. connect virtually, in real time with a fellowship faculty member. We will see your images and can provide live feedback as you scan.
☙ Cordless. Not sure if this is an asset or liability! (Bluetooth connections can be fickle and often delay startup, but cords can get caught and wound up or break.)
Our thoughts: Clarius offers more detailed B-mode resolution, (as good as some cart based machines in most applications). 95% of Rural scanning is in B-mode. Users argue whether Clarius or GE VScan Air has better resolution. (It probably depends on the application.) Both generally have improved resolution over Butterfly iQ+, however at the Point of Care level, this may not translate into a clinical advantage very often.
Clarius offers a full feature set including PWD, thus it would be a great tool for full Fellowship learning, especially if you do not have access to a quality / full feature set cart-based machine to practice with.
The bluetooth connectivity can be irritating for both Clarius & GE VScan Air. Users of both devices offer conflicting opinions of which brand's connection is more stable: no clear advantage for either.
The largest drawbacks of Clarius are the price and the need to carry / switch between multiple probes. (An important consideration for the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship curriculum.)
*Other pricing options exist, see website for details.
GE VScan Air
3 probes in 1.
~$4765 USD (no mandatory subscription)
☙ Two-in-one probe: no need to carry 3+ separate probes. (One end of your probe is Linear, the other is Curvilinear / Phased Array combined.)
☙ Robust. Drop tested to Military Standards & Waterproof. That equates to peace-of-mind when cleaning your device or moving your equipment between ER & clinic or using it during a busy shift.
☙ Best in class for B-mode imaging, which represents 95%+ of imaging mode used in most Comprehensive Rural Applications. Colour-mode available but M-mode & Pulsed Wave Doppler are not available at this time.
☙ Secure GE Cloud Storage is under development but not available at time of last update.
☙ Cordless. Not sure if this is an asset or liability! (Bluetooth connections can be fickle and often delay startup), but cords can get caught and wound up or break.)
Our thoughts: VScan Air offers more detailed B-mode resolution, (as good as some cart based machines in most applications). 95% of Rural scanning is in B-mode. Users argue whether Clarius or GE VScan Air has better resolution. (It probably depends on the application.) Both generally have improved resolution over Butterfly iQ+, however at the Point of Care level, this may not translate into a clinical advantage very often.
VScan Air's drawbacks are in its feature set (does not offer M-mode or Pulsed-Wave Doppler). Many cart-based hospital systems do not offer PWD either, and thus lack of access to PWD during your fellowship will deprive you from learning a small but signifiant part of the advanced fellowship curriculum. (PWD can be extremely useful in select Rural applications.)
The bluetooth connectivity can be irritating for both Clarius & GE VScan Air. Users of both devices offer conflicting opinions of which brand's connection is more stable: no clear advantage for either.
GE VScan Air is a solid choice for someone who knows they will not need PWD (or has access through another device), and who can afford the extra capital expense.