Cardiovascular ultrasound innovations being showcased at ASE 2024 meeting

New technology, from artificial intelligence that can complete study workflow, new 3D/4D intracardiac echo (ICE) catheters, virtual reality simulators, to robot-assisted ultrasound, will be presented on the expo floor of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Scientific Sessions, June 14-16, 2024, at in Portland.

ASE said 50 vendors and organizations will display their latest products and services for cardiac ultrasound on the expo floor at ASE 2024. The expo floor is open Friday, June 14, 3:30-5:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 16, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

As staffing shortages continue to grow, several hospitals are also attending in hope of recruiting new sonographers. 

Exhibitors in alphabetical order at ASE:

   • Abbott (Booth 431) will showcase its recently U.S.-approved TriClip G4 Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) system. The device is showcased at ASE because echocardiography is key to visualize its implantation in the mitral and tricuspid valves. 

   • Agfa HealthCare (Booth 247) will present its enterprise imaging solution tailored for cardiology and IT support for the entire cardiology department across all its subspecialties. The vendor offers comprehensive web workflows so cardiologists can achieve a “live in flow” access their images and reports anywhere. This solution seamlessly integrates with the hospital's medical record system, allowing for collaboration and enhanced efficiency.

   • AstraZeneca (Booth 550) will drive awareness about Wainua as the silencer in patients with polyneuropathy due to hereditary amyloidosis (hATTR-PN). The booth will feature information on the WAINUA HCP Campaign to Stop Neuropathy Progression and additional informational resources.

    • Bristol Myers Squibb (Booth 855) is focused on the symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patient and how its drug therapy helps patients.

    • EchoNous (Booth 334) offers point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) innovation with its AI-powered Kosmos system. It offers image quality and advanced performance similar to cart-based systems, with the affordability and the portability of a handheld system. Its AI helps flatten the learning curve and makes exam workflows more efficient.

   • Epsilon Imaging (Booth 650) EchoInsight Zero Footprint (ZF) Advanced Echo Analysis is an integrated, vendor neutral, offline platform, enabling clinicians to easily incorporate the valuable benefits of strain imaging and automation of cardiac function measurements into routine clinical practice. It offers LV and RV analysis, full heart analysis and/or clinical research analysis capabilities. 
 
   • Fujifilm Healthcare Americas (Booth 435) is doing its diagnostic ultrasound and enterprise imaging IT systems.

   • HeartLab (Booth 530) will be demoing its cloud-based imaging platform for cardiology. It offers productivity and efficiency gains and the ability to work with remote team members. HeartLab has expanded its off-cart measurement for almost all custom calculations can now be performed in the cloud without having to return to the machine.

   • Heritage Medical Products (Booth 551) is showing its Sonobed, designed to enable better patient comfort and sonographre access during exams.

   • ImageGuideEcho Registry (Booth 654) is an echocardiography data repository for quality improvement owned and operated by ASE. It provides automatically generated QI feedback and analytics. The registry focuses on driving technology applications and assessing specific quality metrics and patient outcomes across medical centers within echocardiography. There will be two information sessions in the booth.

   • Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) (Booth 436) IAC has two new echocardiography offerings to help provide commitment to quality and patient safety in specialized diagnostic imaging. These include the IAC Standards and Guidelines for Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) that provides guidance in training also offers experience and protocol development. Adult Congenital Transthoracic Echocardiography Accreditation recognizes the critical role of facilities providing care to patients with congenital heart disease who transition their care from pediatric cardiology to adult cardiology services.
 
   • Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JRC-DMS) (Booth 748) is a nonprofit organization in existence to establish, maintain and promote quality standards for educational programs in diagnostic medical sonography (DMS). It provides a mechanism of committee review to recognize educational programs throughout the United States that instruct students in the disciplines related to DMS through education consistent with standards for entry into practice.

   • Lantheus (Booth 755) will discuss the safety and effectiveness of its Definity echo contrast agent to enhance echos of pediatric patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricular chamber and to improve delineation of the left ventricular endocardial border. 

   • Mayo Clinic (Booth 449) Cardiovascular Education department is showcasing their 2024/2025 lineup of live conferences and online digital learning opportunities. 

   • narnar (Booth 651) helps enable the widespread use of contrast echocardiography by developing clinical software tools that make the interpretation of myocardial function and perfusion faster, consistent and more intuitive. 

   • National Board of Echocardiography (NBE) (Booth 750) is launching its new Maintenance of Certification in Echocardiography (MOCE) in July 2024. The booth features a MOCE platform demo, on a mobile device or web browser. This annual longitudinal assessment replaces NBE recertification exams to continuously support physicians in keeping their clinical knowledge, judgment, and skills current throughout their careers.

   • NeuraSignal (Booth 350) is showing the NeuraSignal NovaGuide 2 Intelligent Ultrasound, a robot-assisted transcranial Doppler (TCD) device that automates the detection of right-to-left shunts (RLS) and patent foramen ovale (PFO). The BUBL study demonstrated that this device is significantly superior in sensitivity compared to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), with a 64% RLS detection rate by NovaGuide 2 versus only 20 percent by TTE, highlighting its enhanced accuracy and potential for broader clinical use. 

   • Philips (Booth 441) is introducing new AI tools to its ultrasound systems, like an automated tool for segmental wall motion scoring of the heart, and a fully automated 3D quantification of MR volumes to speed workflows and increase productivity. The vendor is also showing its X11-4t Mini 3D TEE transducer, which provides care to patients as small as 5 kg. Some of these features are pending 510(k) clearance.

   • Pie Medical Imaging (PMI) (Booth 337) is showing its CAAS Qardia software, which leverages FDA-cleared AI driven workflows for performing key clinical measurements including myocardial strain, stress echo, diastology and valve analysis. Ease-of-access is provided on any PC within the hospital network by using the web-browser. The vendor is also showing its CT/3D TEE-based, pre-procedural transcatheter planning solutions within the 3mensio Structural Heart platform.

   • ScImage (Booth 744) is shown g its PICOM365 comprehensive CVIS with some specific echocardiology advancements. It has some expanded structured reporting optimization and leverages AI.

   • Sheehan Medical (Booth 645) offers solutions to make ultrasound education easy to learn and easy to teach. Instant feedback shows what a sonographer is doing and how to improve further. They also offer an auto import feature to upload patient images onto the simulator.

   • Siemens Healthineers (Booth 741) is showing its FDA-cleared Acumen Origin echocardiography system, which includes more than 5,600 AI-powered measurements and helps anticipate next actions to autocomplete studies and greatly exam improve efficiency and reproducibility between sonographers. There will be an Origin simulator to test the AI tools and to perform 4D ICE training. 

   • SoftLink International (Booth 351) provides IT solutions for hospital automation, clinical informatics, patient workflow management and analytics and is show casing its Comprehensive Echocardiography Solution. This includes an adult echocardiography procedure reporting system and a diagnostic ultrasound viewer within an EchoPACS. It supports on-premise and cloud deployment options with modality integration for the auto-import of DICOM measurements.

   • Ultromics (Booth 849) will demonstrate its heart failure detection AI.

   • Version2 VR Technologies (Booth 346) is launching its echocardiography simulator, which includes an immersive VR toolkit that is portable and engaging with its realism. Facilitating hands-on learning, the simulator ensures training quality and accessibility. 
 
   • Visura Technologies (Booth 740) is demonstrating its TEECAD System, the only FDA-cleared camera that seamlessly connects to a TEE probe for real-time visualization for real-time visualization during TEE probe navigation to support more efficient and effective probe placement.

Echocardiographer recruiters at ASE 2024:

   • Christus Health (Booth 343) is recruiting for sonographers and is focused on championing environmental sustainability and eco-conscious practices within its operations. 
 
   • Dell Children’s Medical Center (Booth 434) is recruiting for the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, a partnership between Dell Children’s Medical Center and UT Health Austin. Its multidisciplinary, multispecialty teams bring their expertise together to ensure delivery of the highest level of individualized and comprehensive care possible to even the tiniest most complex patients, as well as adults with congenital heart disease.

   • UCSF Health (Booth 257) is recruiting for its team of clinical sonographers, ACHD sonographers, advanced cardiac sonographers, research sonographers, core lab sonographers and echo students from its hospital-based cardiac sonography school.

   • UVA Health (Booth 430) is a world-class academic medical center and health system with a level 1 trauma center. Its flagship hospital, UVA Health University Medical Center, is ranked #1 in Virginia and is among the top 40 nationally.

   • Valley Children's Healthcare (Booth 354) Pediatric Cardiology Department offers cardiac testing services for children and mothers expecting, providing comprehensive care for heart conditions. The focus of the department is to offer collaborative care, utilizing the latest advancements in technology.

For more information about the ASE Scientific Sessions visit ASEScientificSessions.org.

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Dave Fornell is a digital editor with Cardiovascular Business and Radiology Business magazines. He has been covering healthcare for more than 16 years.

Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com

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