SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 — Patients can give themselves a doctor-led ultrasound at home thanks to Butterfly's new TeleGuidance platform.
On Monday, Butterfly Network announced the latest version of the ultrasound-based telemedicine platform TeleGuidance, which allows for “trained practitioners to perform an ultrasound scan without being next to the patient.”
The super mobile, handheld ultrasound wand, the Butterfly iQ, attaches to an iOS or Android device and sends imaging information to physicians through the platform. While this tool and the platform have been on the market for about a year and a half now, it required professionals to operate — which is now a thing of the past; a new version launched this week.
The platform now includes an iOS-exclusive feature that omits the need for a trained professional to perform the physical portion of an ultrasound, that is, sliding the probe around various parts of the body as needed.
Guidance is offered by a professional on the platform who can tell a patient how to position the probe themselves from their homes. Visual, AR-powered instructions can also be sent if needed. Doctors can save images and brief videos of the ultrasound for further inspection later.
This platform for at-home imaging will first be released to a limited number of interested physicians before it is more widely available in the next few weeks. The Butterfly iQ starts at US$1,999 (RM8,713) a piece, and membership to the platform begins at US$420 per year. — AFP-Relaxnews
