Whatever device you choose, the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship requires you have access to your own device in every clinical location, and at all times. We do NOT want you to rely on occasional access to a hospital machine (often with limited probe selection or other missing features.)
Note: all probes below are listed as having 3 year warranties, which realistically will be the life expectancy of a handheld probe during this era of rapid ultrasound advancement.
Note: all probes below are listed as having 3 year warranties, which realistically will be the life expectancy of a handheld probe during this era of rapid ultrasound advancement.
last updated: 10 May 2025
Butterfly iQ3 🇺🇸
(Feb 2024)
3 probes in 1. (3rd generation)
~$5,299 CAD + $290-600/year (conditional)*
☙ All-in-one probe: Butterfly's microchip technology permits one probe to do the scanning of all three most common probes. (i.e. linear, curvilinear, phased)
☙ Proprietary features / modes available only on Butterfly. In addition to iQ+ features of Bi-Plane® and Needle-Vis®: this model also has iQ Slice® technology.
☙ Same advantages as iQ+ in terms of Robustness / drop testing, Full suite of advanced features, Secure Butterfly Cloud storage and sharing and Realtime virtual scanning.
☙ Cord-Dependent. (Can be 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: Butterfly iQ3 offers more detailed resolution (comparable to some cart based machines in most applications). 95% of rural scanning is in B-mode. Butterfly iQ3, and GE VScan Air have similar resolution, depending on the application. Clarius offers slightly superior resolution.
Like its predecessor, iQ3 offers even more proprietary features than even cart-based machines. While these bells and whistles are interesting, and in occasional circumstances helpful, they are not of major importance when learning / practicing comprehensive bedside ultrasound.
The largest drawback is price point. If you have access to a quality cart-based machine(s) with a full suite of features, which is well-maintained (prioritized) by your facility and available across all of the locations you practice in, contemplate the less expensive iQ+ model for learning and occasional home-visits etc.
However if you do not have quality cart-based equipment in all of your practice locations, investing in the more expensive iQ3 (or Clarius or VScan-Air) for superior B-mode resolution is recommended.
* 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 PAL HD3 🇨🇦
(Nov 2024)
Clarius' first "all in one" probe (Nov 2024)
~$8,200 CAD + $595/year*
☙ All-in-one probe: Clarius combines a phased array/curvilinear array combo with linear array in a side-by-side arrangement to offer full body 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. (Can be 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 currently offers the highest detail in B-mode resolution, (better than some cart based machines in many applications). 95% of rural scanning is in B-mode. Clarius offers slightly superior resolution to the other two options listed.
Clarius offers a full feature set including pulsed-wave doppler, 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.
Generically speaking, bluetooth connectivity can be irritating, but Clarius reports this probe connects in "a second or two." (We have not be able to independently verify this yet.)
The largest drawback of Clarius is the higher price point, though with the new all in one "PAL" probe option the price is now relatively competitive. Clarius has also implied that education discounts may be available.
If price is not a major hinderance, this is currently the top quality device on the market and would serve fellows very well during fellowship and beyond.
*option for one time / lifetime subscription. Probe also works with reduced functionality without a subscription renewal.
GE VScan Air CL 🇺🇸
(Aug 2023)
3 probes in 1. (several generations)
~$6,600 CAD (no mandatory subscription*)
☙ All-in-one probe: GE has created a probe where one end 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. (Can be 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, (comparable to some cart based machines in most applications). 95% of rural scanning is in B-mode. Butterfly iQ3, and GE VScan Air have similar resolution, depending on the application. Clarius offers slightly superior resolution.
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.) Cardiac scanning is awkward due to the larger curvilinear footprint of the probe.
The bluetooth connectivity can be irritating for wireless devices. RUF testing of the VScan air yielded delays of up to 15s to connection, which could be quite bothersome when using the devices frequently in a busy clinic or ER.
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.
*an optional subscription for cloud service (archiving scans automatically may be available.)