By Neena Rahemtulla, VP of Marketing

Most of us are familiar with the concept of point and shoot in photography. It refers to a level of automation that makes capturing a photograph as simple as possible.

A lot of hand held cameras carry this functionality.  But now, for the price of a decent camera, we can acquire a sophisticated smartphone that takes great photos with a few quick gestures.

There is a similar shift in the world of ultrasound. Due to the miniaturization of ultrasound technology, it’s now more portable, easier to use, and affordable than ever.

A Clarius™ Wireless Ultrasound Scanner uses the functionality of touch screen smart devices. Without any wires, clinicians can easily carry an ultrasound system in their pockets.

With its Point-and-Shoot Ultrasound® capabilities, medical professionals need only to launch the app, select the scanner, select a body part and are ready to begin. From there they have the option to zoom, freeze, and save.

Does this mean anyone can use it? Not quite. Acquiring and interpreting ultrasound images requires intense training and specialization, especially for radiologists and sonographers, who complete years of training. The good news though is that a mobile scanner will help these trained professionals use ultrasound more frequently because it’s easy to take anywhere.  An ultrasound scanner that is affordable and easy to learn also enables more widespread use by medical professionals who are trained to use ultrasound to safely guide procedures and also for triage in emergency situations.

Clarius has worked with medical advisors in various specialties to optimize presets, which enable users to acquire good images with minimal adjustments. Advanced users can still get access to a few advanced parameters. But for most users, our goal is for Clarius is to live up to the promise of Point-and-Shoot Ultrasound®.

We have produced a brief video to show what we mean by Point-and-Shoot Ultrasound®. We hope you’ll take a minute to watch it.