Abstract
Purpose :
Until recently diagnostic ophthalmic ultrasonography has exclusively utilized piezo-electric transducer technology to visualize ophthalmic anatomy. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of ultrasonic images from the recent FDA approved handheld Butterfly iQ (BiQ), an Ultrasound-on-a-Chip device, with a standard 10MHz piezo-electric ophthalmic ultrasound.
Methods :
A cross-sectional blinded study of sonographic image quality was performed as a comparison between the BiQ portable ultrasound and the 10MHz Accutome B-Scan Pro. Study participants had ultrasound procedures performed on each eye during a typical ophthalmic visit per the standard of care. The BiQ was connected to an iPad for video capture and settings adjustment. Four imaging presets (MSK, MSK-Soft Tissue, Nerve, and Pediatric Lung) with the highest clarity were selected from the BiQ software library. One minute video clips were taken using each ultrasound probe. De-identified still images were cropped, randomized, and presented to three blinded ophthalmologist graders who rated images on a ten-point Likert scale based on four criteria: Resolution, Detail, Image Quality, and Diagnostic Confidence. Resolution was defined as “sharpness of the image and lack of haziness,” detail as “clarity of outlines, how well structures and boundaries are defined,” image quality as “overall image assessment (e.g., absence of noise, contrast between structures),” and diagnostic confidence as “confidence in making clinical decisions based on image.” An ANOVA with post hoc pairwise comparison was performed in SPSS.
Results :
The ANOVA results (Table 1) illustrate that 2/3 evaluators reported no statistically significant differences between the BiQ and Accutome in all categories. With respect to image Detail, there was a statistically significant difference for 1/3 graders between the Accutome and two of the BiQ modalities (MSK and Nerve); however, the overall results of the study indicate that there were no statistically significant differences in function of the images generated by the Butterfly iQ ultrasound versus the 10MHz Accutome B-Scan Pro.
Conclusions :
These results show promise for the future of portable ultrasound. The benefits of Butterfly iQ are cost-effective, pocket-sized, and versatile, highlighting its potential for clinical utility.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.