Researchers at the University of British Columbia are developing new technology that would allow patients to have high-tech ultrasound exams no matter where they live in the province.
The new system, being developed by the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, would allow an untrained assistant wearing a mixed-reality headset to conduct precise ultrasounds while being guided by a qualified radiologist.
Silvia Chang, a radiologist at Vancouver General and UBC Hospital and section head of abdominal imaging in the Department of Radiology, said this is an exciting opportunity.
“Why we’re doing this is really to, you know, address any health equities so that all people in British Columbia can have timely access to standard imaging such as ultrasound, to enable to have that done, you know, quickly and help expedite management expeditiously,” she said.
“I think (it) is really beneficial to patients who may not have that access readily available, especially in the remote communities.”
Chang said they see many patients who have had to travel to Vancouver, spending time and money and this would be a way to address those challenges.
She said they spent some time on Haida Gwaii over the summer testing the quality and the feasibility of this project and all the scans they did were comprehensive and provided good diagnostics.
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“I’m really impressed at the improvement in the technical logical aspects of it,” Chang added.
“This is still really kind of the early part of our research. So I think the progress has been, you know, moving along quite nicely. So we’re going to continue to obviously improve on the technology on this to make it more practical, more efficient.”
The researchers said that among the many benefits are that radiologists will be able to support multiple hospitals simultaneously, easing staffing shortages.
The scientists say they need more research to make the technology a reality and have applied for more funding.
“More testing is happening,” Chang said.
“So as I mentioned, we’ve already proven the technical aspects is pretty sound over our 5G network. What we’re doing right now is just improving the diagnostic quality of the ultrasound images.”
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