Ultrasound medical procedure (illustration)
Ultrasound medical procedure (illustration)Nati Shohat /Flash90

The Technion Institute in Haifa's Electrical Engineering school is developing a portable and innovative ultrasound system that can transmit simultaneous scans to an attending physician who is not located on site. 

The hope is that with such a system, ultrasound scans can be performed in disaster areas via a mobile ultrasound unit and then transmitted, in real-time, to the attending physician who can help diagnose the patient from afar. The team on site can be given medical instructions based on the findings and then treat the patient in the field. 

The practical applications of this technology include disaster areas, terror attacks, roadside collisions and accidents, poor areas that do not have access to proper medical treatment, as well as a host of other emergency situations.  

Professor Yonina Eldar has developed an advanced probe that eliminates the need for the large ultrasound devices that are found in clinics and hospitals. The probe acquires only the relevant data, which is transmitted to a remote processing unit or cloud which can then be read by the attending physician via his smart phone or tablet, according to a report that appeared on the Ma'ariv news site. 

While ultrasound imaging is one of the world’s most common medical tests, it is prohibitive in that it often requires a large amount of data to be uploaded and can take a long time to get results. In addition ultrasound machines are quite large and are not easily moved, hence they cannot be taken out into the field in most cases. Professor Eldar's model eliminates both of those issues. 

Eldar has developed a new algorithm which allows the large amount of data to be shrunk to a manageable size at the original scanning stage. This will enable it to be uploaded via cloud technology without harming the image quality or causing a loss of data during the process. Secondly, the new probe eliminates the need for large ultrasound machines making it more transportable to hot-zones.

Uploading the scan results to a cloud and enabling the patient’s doctor to view the findings on his or her mobile device will save time and allow a real-time interaction between the attending physician in the hospital and the medical professionals on the ground. 

Sheba Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Shai Tejman-Yarden said that in the case of injuries, “this development will provide a doctor who is not at the scene with information in real time, enabling him to instruct the paramedic at the scene. It will also enable remote treatment for patients in developing countries, under the guidance of Israeli doctors.”