Abstract
Purpose :
While many studies comparing handheld ultrasound devices to standard ultrasounds have been conducted due to the increased use of handheld point-of-care ultrasound in medicine, there is a significant lack of research pertaining specifically to their role in ophthalmology. Expanding upon a previous study by our group comparing image quality between five handheld ultrasound devices in which the L20 (Clarius Mobile Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) received the highest image quality ratings, we compared the image quality of the handheld L20 to two standard ultrasound devices: the ABSolu (Ellex, Adelaide, Australia) and the Eye Cubed (Ellex, Adelaide, Australia).
Methods :
Using three devices on one volunteer, one skilled ophthalmologist obtained five orbital and periorbital views: retina B-scan, meibomian glands, lacrimal gland, and orbicularis oculi muscle, and temporal artery. The L20 device, which has an ultrasound frequency range of 8-20 MHz, was set to the “Ocular” preset for the first four structures and to the “Vascular” preset for the fifth, respectively. A 50 Mhz UBM probe was used with the ABSolu and a 40 Mhz UBM probe with the EyeCubed. Four ophthalmologists and one experienced ophthalmic sonographer graded the image quality of each view on a four-point Likert scale: excellent (4), good (3), poor (2), and not visible (1). The data was analyzed using ANOVA tests with the significance level set to p < 0.05.
Results :
The mean ratings were 3.48 for the L20, 2.43 for the Eye Cubed, and 2.37 for the ABSolu, with no statistically significant difference in ratings between the three devices (p = 0.089).
Conclusions :
Handheld point-of-care ultrasound devices may be of adequate image quality overall when compared to standardized ultrasound machines. Our findings are promising in their implications that point-of-care ultrasound devices may be used reliably in a variety of ophthalmic settings.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.