Butterfly Network has reinvented ultrasound from the ground up through it’s pocket-sized
device, Butterfly iQ, the first handheld whole-body ultrasound system. Powered by
a single silicon chip on a handheld, smartphone-connected device, Butterfly provides
a personalized experience for healthcare providers at a drastically lower cost – starting
under $2000.
For over 50 years, ultrasound machines have used incredibly fragile and expensive
piezo crystals, with systems costing upwards of $50 000, each wired and attached with
cables to a separate machine. Those crystals must be tuned to produce three types
of ultrasonic waves – linear, curved and phased – requiring separate transducers to
capture specific imaging depths to view different parts of the body. Comparatively,
Butterfly has replaced these delicate crystals with a single silicon chip. The chip,
made from an array of thousands of programmable
micro-machined sensors (you can think of this as a grid of very small drums) is capable
of emulating all three ultrasonic wave patterns with a single probe, all on one handheld
device. Through this fundamentally new invention, Butterfly is able to drastically
lower the cost of its device by leveraging the same manufacturing as consumer products,
allowing for high precision, high quality ultrasound to be produced at scale.
Butterfly iQ was cleared by the FDA for 13 indications, making it the broadest FDA
clearance ever for a single ultrasound transducer. The result is a whole-body ultrasound
system that is unlike any device on the market.Most recently, Butterfly iQ received
CE Mark approval that allows the device to be sold in the UK, Europe, Australia and
New Zealand.
At a significantly reduced cost with no drop in quality, Butterfly iQ is making medical
imaging universally accessible and affordable. Soon, the newest software updates will
also incorporate AI, making it drastically easier to capture a usable image. Through
both of these important updates, nurses, EMTs and physician assistants, among many
other medical professionals, will now be able to easily and safely administer ultrasound
for their patients.
Leveraging an integrated software platform, Butterfly seamlessly connects users to
collaborate across the hospital or around the world. Ultrasound studies are uploaded
to Butterfly’s platform for safe and secure access, storing patient data in a HIPAA-compliant
cloud that leverages best-in-class security and encryption.
For almost every disease across every stage of human life, ultrasound can play an
important role. Butterfly envisions a world where personal ultrasound is just like
a glucose meter, blood pressure cuff or a thermometer. Whether you have a chronic
disease or a condition that requires regular monitoring, personal ultrasound will
be there to find disease in time.
Working with many global health partners, including Bridge to Health, a non-profit
that used these devices to help train doctors in Uganda to diagnose pneumonia and
other ailments in children and other local residents, Butterfly iQ is helping to save
lives in low resource settings around the world. By making medical imaging universally
accessible and affordable, Butterfly is democratizing healthcare.
For more information on handheld mobile devices, visit www.efsumb.org. The Use of Handheld Ultrasound Devices – An EFSUMB Position Paper, Michael Bachmann
Nielsen
