The iViz Snapdragon 600 ultrasound tablet saves lives

The SonoSite portable iViz ultrasound system

Technology can save lives,  and i was interested to learn that Fujifilm Sonosite developed a Snapdragon 600 based portable iViz ultrasound system that saved five soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan. 

iViz is an Android based device that is used by physicians – not just military physicians – who can practice and share visual exams anywhere  including battlefields, remote locations and on the way to a hospital. Since this is a Qualcomm device, you won’t be surprised that it has some great connectivity features.

This is essentially a seven inch lightweight tablet with a touch screen display that can easily operate on-the-go between field use, during transport and hospitals and Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The iWiz is 7.21 in. (183.1 mm) in ength x 4.59 in. (116.5 mm) in width and 1.06 in (26.9 mm) in  height. The system’s  case length is 9.5 in. (241.3 mm) x 4.8 inches width (123mm) x a height of 1.12 in. (28.6 mm). 

The device connects to the cloud, and is battery operated with 64GB eMMC, USB, HDMI, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that allows  for secure connectivity, image storage, transfer, and display.

The heart of the device is a Snapdragon 600 running Android and the small tablet is well equipped for image processing and image rendering for high definition 2D imaging.

In a recent field test, one emergency room was able to conduct ultrasounds on as many as 320 patients a day due to the portability and enhanced image quality. The video below shows a company’s promotional video where the physician managed to save the lives of five soldiers in Afghanistan, a baby and mother in Morocco, and helping doctors in San Francisco and in Lyon, France.

The EKG / Ultrasound machine  can take voice dictation, and send  patients’ pictures and other relevant data at once. The EKG was a big machine weighing a few kilograms heavy and a separate Ultrasound unit was a pretty big machine that  definitely didn’t fit in a pocket. .

It is clear that Qualcomm is not only about  mobile devices and connectivity, and that tablets can be used for something way better than Facebook or YouTube /Vevo videos.