ArticleThe ultrasound journal2020
Evaluation of a novel handheld point-of-care ultrasound device in an African emergency department.
Article in The ultrasound journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review of Commercially Available Clinical CMUT-Based Systems for Use in Medical Ultrasound Imaging: Products, Applications, and Performance.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Developing diagnostic reasoning through point-of-care ultrasound in emergency medicine training: a qualitative study of international medical students.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Advances and Challenges of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers in Medical Imaging.Micromachines · 2026Review
- Comparison of image quality in healthy dogs across 3 handheld ultrasound devices: Butterfly IQ+, Clarius C7HD3VET, and VScan Air.The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne · 2026Article
- The Use of a Handheld Ultrasound Device to Measure Humeral Retrotorsion in Baseball and Softball Athletes: A Validation Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- An AI-enabled comprehensive breast ultrasound diagnostic system for low-resource settings without a sonographer or a radiologist.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The accuracy of preoperative ultrasound use in primary flexor tendon repair: A systematic review.JPRAS open · 2025Article
- A comparative study of portable ultrasound devices in the evaluation of Atlantic bottlenose dolphin mammary gland morphology.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Low-Cost Strategies for the Development of Neurocritical Care in Resource-Limited Settings.Neurocritical care · 2025Review
- Evaluating the accuracy and reliability of non-piezo portable ultrasound devices in postpartum care.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2025Article
- Article
- Use of a handheld ultrasound device for detecting orbital inflammation.American journal of ophthalmology case reports · 2024Article
- Patient satisfaction using handheld ultrasound at emergency department in Jordan University Hospital.International journal of emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Prospective Comparison of Nine Different Handheld Ultrasound (HHUS) Devices by Ultrasound Experts with Regard to B-Scan Quality, Device Handling and Software in Abdominal Sonography.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications for Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Low-Resource Settings: A Scoping Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Accuracy of portable ultrasound machines for obstetric biometry.Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2024Observational
- Use of a Handheld Ultrasonographic Device to Identify Heart Failure and Pulmonary Disease in Rural Africa.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of an ultrasound basic cancer training program through on-site training and virtual case discussions in rural Tanzania: a proof-of-concept study.Ecancermedicalscience · 2024Article
- Imaging performance of portable and conventional ultrasound imaging technologies for ophthalmic applications.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany point-of-care ultrasound devices are now "pocket-sized" or handheld, allowing easy transport during travel and facilitating use in crowded spaces or in austere low-resource settings. Concerns remain about their durability, image quality, and clinical utility in those environments.
methodFive emergency physicians with training in point-of-care ultrasound employed the Butterfly iQ, a novel handheld ultrasound device, in routine clinical care in a busy, high-acuity African emergency department over a period of 10 weeks. We retrospectively evaluated the performance of the Butterfly iQ from the perspectives of both the clinicians using the device and expert ultrasound faculty reviewing the images.
resultsWe found advantages of the Butterfly iQ in a high-acuity African emergency department include its use of a single probe for multiple functions, small size, ease of transport, relatively low cost, and good image quality in most functions. Disadvantages include large probe footprint, lower, though still adequate, cardiac imaging quality, frequent overheating, and reliance on internet-based cloud storage, but these were surmountable. We also report a wide variety of patient presentations, pathology, and procedures to which the device was used.
conclusionWe conclude the Butterfly iQ is an effective, though imperfect, point-of-care ultrasound device in a low-resource emergency setting. We will continue to employ the device in clinical emergency care and teaching in this setting.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.