As a mobile anesthesiologist who supports 45 clinics, surgery centers and dental practices in and around Stuttgart, Germany, Dr. Rüdiger Eichholz is always on the move. That’s why he relies on handheld ultrasound systems that he can carry on his bike when zipping between clinics on his bicycle.  

Clarius is a very, very small device that fits in my pocket and it has very good image quality, especially for nerve blocks. I have a personal one that I like to have with me everywhere I go,” he says. “It is so valuable to have a full, big machine squeezed into a small handheld device that is not much bigger than a phone.” 

Dr. Eichholz shared his experiences with using ultrasound since 2008 when we visited him to prepare for the webinar Mastering Ultrasound-Guided Procedures: 3 Pillars for Safety and Success.

Watch this 4-minute video to learn how he uses ultrasound for his practice. Scroll down to see what Dr. Eichholz says are the 7 key benefits of using Clarius ultrasound for anesthesiology. 

1. Carry it with you and use it everywhere 

When I started using ultrasound, we had big machines and that is still the case in some big trauma centers where you have 20 different operating rooms on one floor and you can roll your machine from one theater to another.  

It’s different for me because I often work in theatres in Stuttgart that could be three kilometers apart. And since traffic is very bad, I ride by bike and take the ultrasound with me. I can use my smartphone as an ultrasound screen. 

In some settings, the probe replaces your stethoscope. Imagine you were working in a very, very noisy area, in an air ambulance or in a helicopter or in a ground ambulance, and so there’s just no point of getting your stethoscope out and listen to the chest. In this case, the probe replaces the stethoscope, for instance, ruling out or ruling in pneumothorax.” 

2. It’s fast and uncomplicated 

Ultrasound machines used to be big and complicated. Today, we have devices that are basically self-explaining. Compared to the earlier days where we always needed to know our device really well, and we needed to know every function and all the knobs and know the trackball and everything to get into sub-menus and so on, and this has gotten so much easier now because we have a touchscreen interface. You can change the presets easily, and you can enter patient data, and that is quite easy through the interface of the Clarius app.”

3. Good image quality makes it easy to find your target 

The Clarius image quality is excellent for orientation, and I can see everything I need to see.  

And this is all that counts at the end if you want to have successful blocks, for instance, or successful vascular access or also in emergency room or on the ICU when you are focusing on rapid diagnosis. You need to have good image quality and to either find your target structure for a block or to either find a pathology in an ICU patient. And so, patient safety, of course, gets better whenever you have better image quality and whenever you find your target structures much easier and then can bring a needle there. ”

4. Clarius Voice Control helps maintain sterility 

The development of Voice Control is very cool because you can just tell the machine, “Increase depth,” and then you get a deeper image. Or increase gain or capture video or whatever or M-mode or whatever you want, even color. And that is very cool to run your device even when you’re sterile. And it’s much quicker than telling someone, “Would you please go to the machine and press on so many buttons to get to a function I want now?” 

5. Wireless is an upside 

The wireless devices have some advantages because there’s a hygiene issue with wires. Especially, for instance in the ICU, you find that the machine is on the other side of the patient bed and then the wire runs over the patient; hopefully it has been disinfected properly but you’re not sure. This is not an issue with wireless devices. Also, every day, someone runs over the wires on a big ultrasound machine.”

6. The cost is reasonable 

There are many ultrasound devices on the market and it’s important to try them before making a decision. It comes down to usability, image quality and cost, of course. Especially for anesthesiologists in private practice, as I am, we have to pay for this ourselves. Our approach has to be effective, with a reasonable image quality, with a reasonable cost-effectiveness, and this is why we’re also using handheld devices because, compared to the big ones, they’re much cheaper.” 

7. Needle Guidance increases confidence for trainees 

Needle guidance is a very important thing for successful procedures and patient safety and confidence for the anesthesiologist. And I’m happy that manufacturers have thought about so many different assistance systems to help us guiding the needle. Especially for the trainees, I think the needle guidance option help to focus on the needle and get better manually.”

Ultra-portable wireless ultrasound for the nimble regional anesthesiologist 

As Dr. Eichholz attests, for most regional anesthesia procedures, the speed and high-definition image of Clarius ultrasound gets you there, in-and-out, faster. No more guessing where your needle is or wasting medication. No more wires contaminating your sterile prep area. No more bulky systems slowing you down.  

Learn more about Clarius for Anesthesia. We would be delighted to schedule a virtual demonstration with a Clarius expert at your convenience. Contact us today.