First-year students introduced to portable ultrasound technology thanks to alum and GE Healthcare
First-year medical students perform an ultrasound of Dr. Dulchavsky’s carotid artery as he explains the use of the system.
Students scan the ligaments and tendons of their hands.
Students break into groups to learn how to perform ultrasound scanning with the GE Healthcare portable ultrasound device.
Ultrasound devices are getting better and smaller, as evidenced by this hand-held unit.
The entire freshman class was introduced on Sept. 2 to the latest portable ultrasound technology produced by GE Healthcare. The students received hands-on training in how to use the devices, which look like slightly beefed-up versions of laptop computers. They took in the training from two Henry Ford Health System physicians and from “super-users” – second-year students who have had more experience with the ultrasound scanners.
“This is really something for them. This is really a first taste of what it will be like to use this technology when they will be seeing patients” said second-year medical student Michelle Campbell, 26, of Rochester, Mich. Campbell, a super-user because of her experience with the equipment, spent Thursday afternoon instructing first-year students on the uses of the technology. The students took turns scanning each other’s hands, carotid arteries, and in the case of one male student who agreed to go shirtless for part of the session, the heart.
“Because of this equipment, our students, when they get to the stage of seeing standardized patients in their third and fourth years, and residency, they are ahead of other students. They have an edge because at most medical schools students don’t begin this type of experience until their third or fourth years,” Campbell said. “This session really is a great complement to the anatomy sessions these students (now in their first month of medical training) just completed. They can translate the book learning right to what they are seeing with the ultrasound devices.”
The students’ edge on learning and technology comes courtesy of Scott Dulchavsky, M.D., Ph.D., a 1983 graduate of the School of Medicine, and GE Healthcare. Now Chair of Surgery for Henry Ford Hospital and professor of Surgery for the School of Medicine, Dr. Dulchavsky leads the ultrasound technology efforts for NASA’s space program. In that role, he is responsible for ultrasounds and ultrasound technology involving all United States astronauts, Russian cosmonauts and the Peoples Republic of China taikonauts. He has developed technology and training that allows astronauts and their counterparts from other countries on the International Space Station to use ultrasound in orbit, and transmit those images back to earth. The technology serves in place of bulky X-ray equipment that would be difficult to accommodate on the space station.
Because of Dr. Dulchavsky’s work with NASA and GE, the manufacturer donated 30 of its portable ultrasound devices to the School of Medicine, and the first-year ultrasound sessions began with the incoming class of 2006. The WSU School of Medicine was the first medical college in the nation to have the technology and incorporate it into first-year curriculum.
“This was the first school that had this technology, thanks to GE,” Dr. Dulchavsky said. “Today, there are eight to 10 medical schools in the U.S. that have it. I have a passion for this technology because I’ve seen what it can do. Today, the students are getting a hands-on look at what the tool can do.”
At some point in their careers, he said, the students will be faced with the decision of purchasing such equipment for their own practices, or will serve in decision-making positions for hospitals and surgical centers investigating ultrasound equipment.
Each of the devices, said Matt Jackson, Ph.D., assistant dean of Basic Science Education, costs about $70,000.
“We are very fortunate that, through the efforts of Dr. Dulchavsky, the School of Medicine received this equipment from GE,” Dr. Jackson said. “That generosity allows us to immerse our students in the latest medical technology almost from the day they begin their educations in medicine.”
The students also explored the future of ultrasound science. Dr. Dulchavsky brought with him an even smaller portable version – about the size of an I-pod without the wand – that the students also tested.
“It’s great that they are getting this technology to us so early,” said student Autumn Breuninger, 23, of Los Angeles, Calif. “I think our generation is more open to using it. You can see the value of it.”
Like computers, ultrasound technology is getting better, smaller and less expensive. Dr. Dulchavsky said he is now experimenting with an ultrasound device that can hook up to his cell phone. He believes the use of the technology in space will one day allow physicians to diagnose and provide treatment to patients in remote locations around the planet.