Diagnostic Accuracy of Handheld vs Traditional Ultrasound

Not Applicable

Completed

Interventions: Device: Portable, handheld point-of-care ultrasound device
Device: Cart-based point-of-care ultrasound device

Brief Summary: Patients receiving a point-of-care ultrasound will be randomized into a portable, handheld device or a traditional cart-based ultrasound machine to compare diagnostic capability.

Detailed Description: Patients who require a point-of-care ultrasound examination of their kidneys, gallbladder, heart, lung, or aorta will be enrolled. Once enrolled, the patient will be randomized to receive the point-of-care ultrasound using a portable, handheld ultrasound or a traditional cart based model. The ultrasound examinations will be performed by emergency medicine post-graduate year 1-3 residents or an ultrasound fellow and reviewed by the supervising emergency medicine attending physicians credentialed in performing and interpreting point-of-care ultrasound.

Based on the clinical presentation, the provider will perform one of the following ultrasounds: cardiac to assess ejection fraction ( \<50%, 30-50%, \<30%), lung to assess for presence or absence of B-lines, gallbladder to assess for the presence or absence of gallstones, renal to assess for the presence or absence of hydronephrosis, or aorta to assess for the presence or absence of an aneurysm. The diagnostic accuracy of the portable, handheld and the cart-based model will be assessed using the following as the diagnostic standard: cardiology-interpreted echocardiogram, radiology-interpreted ultrasound or computed tomography, or quality review of the point-of-care ultrasound by 3 ultrasound fellowship trained physicians.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

English and Spanish-speaking patients, who require a gallbladder, cardiac, renal, aorta, or lung ultrasound based on the discretion of the treating physician.

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Portable, Handheld Device	Portable, handheld point-of-care ultrasound device	Patients will receive a point-of-care ultrasound using a handheld, portable ultrasound device.
Traditional, Cart-based Ultrasound	Cart-based point-of-care ultrasound device	Patients will receive a point-of-care ultrasound using a traditional, cart-based ultrasound machine.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Diagnostic Accuracy	1 day	The primary outcome will be difference in diagnostic accuracy between the two methods (the percent of diagnostic accuracy of the hand-held and the percent of diagnostic accuracy of the cart-based model).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Image Quality by Expert Review	1 day	Using a Likert scale of 1-7 (1 = unable to assess image; 7 = highest quality), ultrasound fellowship-trained providers will assess the image quality of images obtained by each provide in the study.