January 12, 2012 — A project led by The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) will utilize the latest technological innovations in the field to bring cardiovascular ultrasound to rural India.
In late January, ASE will sponsor the travel of cardiovascular sonographers to a remote field in India, where an estimated 1.2 million people will gather for a meditation camp. These sonographers and their Indian counterparts will use hand-held echocardiography units to provide free imaging services to as many as 1,000 pre-screened people. ASE is bringing trained, registered experts to assist the procedures, mimicking the state of the practice in the U.S., where the medical system relies on the expertise of the sonographer to assure that the images are correctly acquired. A web-based transmission solution will then be used to send the images electronically to numerous hospitals in the United States, where ASE physicians will read them and transmit their reports back to physicians in India for follow-up and care.
The project, called “ASE Global: Focus on India,” takes cardiovascular ultrasound out of the lab and to the doorsteps of people anywhere in the world. It is intended as a cross-cultural educational project to showcase the possibilities offered by breakthroughs in hand-held echocardiography technology and cloud-based transmission, while offering participants an opportunity to learn from one another and join in a humanitarian effort to benefit an underserved population.
As the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging, the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is both leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines. Comprised of over 15,000 physicians, sonographers, nurses and scientists, ASE provides guidance, expertise and education to its members with a commitment to improving the practice of ultrasound and imaging of the heart and cardiovascular system for better patient outcomes.
For more information: www.asecho.org