GE healthcare has signed an agreement with the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) to test its pocket-sized Vscan ultrasound scanner in the identification of breech babies, with the goal of reducing the risk of injury during childbirth.
Late diagnosis during labor often leads to an increase in the rate of emergency Caesarian-section births and other emergencies. The NHS funding will put Vscan units in the hands of 25 clinicians at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) in the east of England as a pilot program to test the devices, GE and NHS said.
Vscan provides real-time black and white anatomic and color-coded blood-flow images, offering a noninvasive look inside the mother's body that can help speed diagnostic decisions for many patients, GE and the hospital said. Vscan's small size and light weight when compared with traditional ultrasound equipment also means staff at NNUH can carry their Vscan units from patient to patient.
As part of the pilot scheme, 190 midwives at NNUH are being trained to use the scanners and interpret the results, GE said. One scanner will be placed in every delivery room and two will be located in the antenatal ward and midwife-led birthing unit.
