An emergency physician at St. Paul’s Hospital, one of Vancouver’s largest hospitals, Dr. Oron Frenkel was an early advocate of using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in the fight against COVID-19.  

Watch his interview video to learn why Dr. Frenkel thinks Clarius HD is ideal for POCUS, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“While we can’t say with a hundred percent specificity that when we see viral pneumonia infections it’s from COVID-19, where there is a lot of the virus around in the population, positive findings on your ultrasound is highly suspicious of a COVID-19 positive case,” he explains.

Dr. Frenkel is leading a POCUS project sponsored by Digital Technology Supercluster. It’s providing clinicians in rural settings with Clarius ultrasound scanners, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) and a robust educational network. Elements of the project have been fast-tracked due to COVID-19.

“One of these handheld ultrasound devices could deliver essentially thousands of tests in the hands of one operator instead of having to burn through a lot of swabs that may be even less effective than the ultrasound,” suggests Dr. Frenkel. « Honestly nothing’s been this disruptive for the clinical encounter of healthcare worker and their patient since the invention of the stethoscope, which was over 200 years ago.”

Beyond COVID-19, Dr. Frenkel believes that point-of-care ultrasound can be used for diagnosing conditions in almost every part of the body, from brain, eyes to musculoskeletal conditions, heart-lung, abdominal organs and soft tissue. “You name it, we can put an ultrasound on it and look at it specifically. These handheld devices are superb things when I want quick answers in a mobile environment.”

To learn how Clarius HD can help with your fight against COVID-19, you can contact us anytime or learn more here.