Dear Ultrasound Insider,
Ultrasound scans show promise for helping to monitor patients with COVID‑19, according to a letter published on March 12 in Intensive Care Medicine. The findings could give clinicians a new imaging tool besides CT as they battle the coronavirus outbreak.
Researchers used lung ultrasonography to monitor more than a dozen patients in China with COVID-19 infections and found five clinical characteristics associated with the virus. Namely, many patients had pleural line thickening and irregularity and a variety of B-line patterns. Read more in this edition's Insider Exclusive.
Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) announced on March 13 that it has canceled its annual meeting, which was scheduled for March 21-25 in New York City. The decision was unanimous, according to AIUM leadership. The organization hopes that the conference's cancellation will help to "flatten the curve" of infection.
The AIUM meeting is certainly not the first conference to be canceled to help slow the spread of COVID-19 infections. Earlier this month, the European Congress of Radiology postponed its annual meeting until the summer. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Society of Interventional Radiology, and American College of Cardiology also have delayed meetings.
In other Ultrasound Community news, ultrasound doesn't just look promising for COVID-19. It may also be a good first imaging choice for patients with pneumonia, according to a recent study in Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Researchers found that ultrasound had comparable rates of sensitivity and specificity to CT among patients with suspected pneumonia who visited an emergency department.
Finally, scientists have created a robot that uses ultrasound imaging to draw blood from patients with difficult-to-access veins. The tabletop machine can differentiate arteries from veins, guide the needle into the correct location, and confirm whether cannulation successfully occurred. While the robot isn't ready for the clinic just yet, one day it could reduce the need for manual ultrasound when medical staff can't access crucial veins.
As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to increase, I want to say thank you for all you do to help patients get and stay well. It's times like this that I'm reminded of how crucial and important all medical professionals are. Your time, effort, and talents are truly appreciated.
