The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Siemens Healthcare's Virtual Touch ultrasound application.
Virtual Touch is Siemens' first commercially available implementation of its acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technology and is available on its Acuson S2000 and S3000 ultrasound systems, according to the firm. Using sound beams to gently compress tissue, the application visualizes tissue stiffness and displays an elastogram of relative tissue stiffness within the region of interest, Siemens said.
Virtual Touch is cleared for use in abdominal, breast, thyroid, small parts, and musculoskeletal exams. The technology has been commercially available in Europe and Asia since 2008, according to Siemens.
