Case Study -
Vivid iQ Ultrasound System

Ultrasound has been used for decades in many areas of medicine and healthcare, from diagnostics to pregnancy scans.  

Five years ago, separate machines were needed to monitor different organs and parts of the body but ultrasound technology has advanced hugely since then.

In May this year the Trust awarded a grant of £55,000 to purchase a state of the art Vivid iQ ultrasound system, which brings together all the modalities into a single compact and portable machine. It will be used in the care of critically ill patients in the ICU at Noble’s Hospital.

‘It’s not a “Jack of all trades”, it’s an “Expert of all trades”,’ says the ICU’s Clinical Lead, Dr Faber, who has good reason to be enthusiastic about the new machine.

It incorporates many of the huge advances that have been made in ultrasound technology in recent years.

One outstanding feature is the probe which is specially designed to be put down a patient’s gullet and positioned close to the heart. This shows very clearly the structures and functioning of the heart and the flow of blood to and from it.

Most of the patients who have a cardiac event are airlifted swiftly over to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital for further treatment and it is important that clinicians at Noble’s can provide the most accurate diagnostic information so that, when the patients arrive in Liverpool, doctors there know immediately what they are dealing with.

It is equally important for the patients who will be treated on the island, as Dr Faber explains:

‘The functioning of the heart is important for any patient in ICU because the way that their heart is working affects everything. Whether they have come in with sepsis or whether they have had an operation and need ICU afterwards, the amount of blood that the heart is pumping, and the volume and how it is working, is essential to recovery so it is a key part of a patient’s management on ICU.

‘When drugs or other treatments are given, this machine will also show, in real time how the heart is responding.’

Another great advantage of the new machine is that it can be used at the patient’s bedside in the ICU, as Dr Faber explains: ‘We no longer need to send a patient down to radiology for a CT scan to examine and monitor the heart. With this machine it can be done in the Intensive Care Unit, 24/7, and independently of access to radiology. That is the big, powerful progress we have achieved.’

The wide range of medical conditions the new machine can be used for is also important.

Dr Faber goes on: ‘Although we’re small as an island we have the same kind illnesses coming through the doors as any other hospital; for instance bowel obstructions; patients with sepsis who can become very ill very quickly; people who have had accidents that don’t meet the trigger of the major trauma transfer, post-operative patients – It’s a real mix; it’s a general ICU, so we can get anything through the door.

‘The new ultrasound machine assists us in providing modern and best possible care for our sickest patients on the island.’