BOTHELL, US: SonoSite, Inc., the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for point-of-care medicine, announced today the launch of the SonoAccess application, the first medical iPhone app from an ultrasound company that provides a multimedia library of ultrasound resource materials for medical professionals to access when and where they need it.
 
The SonoAccess application is an iPhone or iPod touch interactive mobile learning application that addresses the continuing educational needs of point-of-care ultrasound users. SonoSite partnered with leading physicians to gather and create clinical education materials for emergency medicine, critical care and anesthesia with other specialties to be added soon.

Users can access high quality instructional videos, case studies and reimbursement guides, as well as reference nearly 100 clinical images and news feeds on SonoSite. In addition, users can customize their user profiles to generate recommended lists of videos specific to their practice, as well as share videos, case studies and images with their colleagues and friends.

"Physicians need practical tutorials on ultrasound procedures," said Dr. David Auyong, Anesthesiologist, Seattle, WA. "There are not a lot of resources that give simple, practical tips on how to optimize the position of the probe or position the patient. Having a resource for continuing education available 24/7 like this will be helpful."

Dr. Phillips Perera, MD, FACEP, RDMS, Emergency Ultrasound Program Director at Columbia University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, NY, estimates that at his hospital a large proportion of the faculty and residents have either an iPhone or iPod touch and thinks many will find the SonoAccess application to be helpful. Dr. Perera has already found the application to be a useful tool when teaching residents.

"We have learned that using video works very well for teaching ultrasound—you don't get the same impact from textbooks. I can use SonoAccess even while teaching a resident to perform an ultrasound exam at the bedside by propping up the iPhone next to the bed and pointing out on an image 'this is the heart chamber you are looking for,' for example," Dr. Perera said.

"The portability of SonoAccess matched with the short, bullet point education modules make this a great fit for the busy lifestyle of emergency physicians and residents," Dr Perera said.

With 28 instructional ultrasound videos, and 17 video case studies, the SonoAccess application is one of the largest free resources of instructional videos for point-of-care ultrasound and demonstrates SonoSite's continued commitment to education. Slalom Consulting, a national management consulting and technology solutions firm with mobility expertise, worked with SonoSite on the design and development of SonoAccess to deliver the industry's first interactive mobile learning application from an ultrasound company.

This is SonoSite's second education initiative with Apple. In 2006 SonoSite introduced video refresher courses for the iPod to give physicians an easy to access source of information to use in their practice.