New Ultrasound Systems Help Evaluate Women’s Health

The new Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) Aplio i-series enjoys highly intuitive design, simplified controls, a visual guided user interface, and automated image optimization features. Whether used for routine scanning or advanced prenatal diagnosis, intelligent dynamic micro-slicing (iDMS) technology and a beam-forming architecture called iBeam provide enhanced images due to sharper, more homogenous ultrasonic beams. iBeam also provides clearer visualization of biopsy needles in the live image, selecting the optimal enhancement fully automatically.

New ultra-wide band transducers developed for the Aplio i-series offer superior sensitivity and spatial and contrast resolution from earliest pregnancy to full term, while helping to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Other tools include superb micro-vascular imaging (SMI) technology, which expands the range of visible blood flow and provides visualization of low velocity microvascular flow. When used with high frame rates, SMI can provide advances diagnostic confidence when evaluating lesions, cysts, and tumors, especially during first trimester cardiac assessment.

Other features include shear wave technology to provide a quantitative measure and realtime display of tissue elasticity in a variety of clinical settings, ranging from abdominal to small parts examinations; Smart Maps, which visualizes and quantifies shear wave propagation in a realtime map to visually assess the quality of an elastogram; and a comprehensive strain elastography suite with raw data functionality to assist localization and assessment of palpable masses with high accuracy, sensitivity, and reproducibility.

Another innovation is Smart Fusion, which is used to merge live ultrasound imaging with pre-acquired magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, making it easy to locate anomalies in complex anatomy; for comprehensive evaluation, Smart Fusion can work in multiple imaging modes, including color Doppler and contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). A concise quad display shows the live ultrasound image in sync with multiple views of the pre-loaded data.

“With the new Aplio i-series we are extending our product line to the very top end with unique imaging and processing performance, which is reflected in outstanding image quality, ease of use, and a fantastic potential for new applications,” said Christoph Simm, ultrasound business unit manager at Toshiba Medical Europe. “Together with the current Aplio 500/400/300 Platinum series and the Xario 200/100 Platinum series, we are offering our customers a very rich spectrum of attractive ultrasound products in the field of OB/GYN.”

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