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Vascular Diagnostics: Building on 180 Years of Doppler Technology to Change Future Patient Outcomes

  • Vascular Doppler Systems

When Christian Doppler first discovered the Doppler effect in 1842, he was trying to gain understanding of the relationship between the motion of celestial objects and the light they emit. Now, more than 180 years later, the Doppler effect has wide application across a wide variety of fields. In geophysics, it’s utilized to forecast earthquakes.1 The military uses it to track and guide missiles.2 Satellites employ it well beyond our atmosphere to communicate, and meanwhile, it’s at play in our own homes here on Earth, as devices like smart home sensors use it to detect gestures and movements.3,4

It’s hard to know if Doppler envisioned the impact his discovery would have across time and industries. In the medical field specifically, the Doppler effect has been used to change patient outcomes for the better. It can detect ischemic heart conditions through cardiac stress tests and help cardiologists determine if further intervention is needed.5 Through fetal heartbeat monitoring, physicians can track fetal well-being, especially critical during high-risk pregnancies.6 It even has applications in ophthalmology, as it can be used to track blood flow in the eyes.7

Clearly, Doppler technology has had a broad and deep impact on medicine.

Without vascular Doppler technology, vascular screenings would be much more challenging as there would be no easy, real-time way to measure blood flow dynamics. It’s also non-invasive, quick, and painless, preventing the need to rely on more invasive procedures such as catheter-based angiograms, which carry risks like infection and require recovery time. And the real-time results from vascular screenings provide help to physicians in making quick treatment decisions when time is of the essence.

However, vascular screenings as we know them today didn’t evolve overnight. Modern vascular technology has been more than 180 years in the making, with the latest VascuChek® technology as the next foray into the game-changing potential of the Doppler effect. Read our white paper, How VascuChek Revolutionized Traditional Doppler Systems, for a deeper look into the timeline of Doppler technology.

Improved Vascular Diagnostics with VascuChek

Previous Vascular devices came with clunkiness and limited control, limitations around intraoperative or subcutaneous use, probe malfunctions, and unreliable battery life.8,9,10 VascuChek overcomes these challenges in vascular diagnostics with:

  • Streamlined design: Straightforward controls, intuitive interface, and minimal setup reduce complexity and make it easier for medical professionals to operate the system quickly and efficiently with one hand.
  • Opportunities for intraoperative and subcutaneous use: VascuChek is the first handheld Doppler FDA-cleared for evaluating blood flow subcutaneously and intraoperatively.
  • Cordlessness: With VascuChek’s cordless design, clinicians can check blood flow in a sterile environment without assistance and without compromising the sterile field.
  • Improved functionality: Disposable, easily connectable probes eliminate contamination risks, simply click into place, and provide accurate blood flow assessments every time.
  • Greater reliability: Reliable, rechargeable batteries decrease system failures.

Future of Vascular Diagnostics and Patient Outcomes

By building on almost two centuries of Doppler technology in the making, VascuChek’s device addresses what wasn’t working before and adds additional benefits that will continue to positively improve lives and impact patient outcomes. With these improvements in vascular diagnostics, we could experience:

  • Enhanced early detection: It’s possible that VascuChek could detect subtle signs of conditions like peripheral artery disease, deep vein thrombosis, and carotid artery disease at much earlier stages when interventions are most effective.
  • More personalized care: VascuChek could provide more customized insights into a patient’s vascular health by more easily gathering data points that inform effective treatments or lifestyle adjustments.
  • Patient empowerment: Through its real-time feedback, VascuChek could enhance patients’ understanding of their vascular health, giving them more decision-making power.
  • Reduced healthcare costs: It’s possible that VascuChek’s cost-effective, non-invasive, and user-friendly tool could allow physicians to screen larger populations at a fraction of the cost of traditional diagnostic procedures such as CTs and MRIs.

With the introduction of this new technology, informed by feedback from over 100 of the nation’s top physicians and surgeons, the industry is rethinking the OR with VascuChek and moving past the challenges that had been plaguing the field for decades. Will you join us as we experience how else this technology could change patient care for the better?

Schedule a consultation today to learn more about the VasuChek handheld Doppler system.

Sources:

  1. Vargas CA. Advanced Technology and Data Analysis of Monitoring Observations in Seismology. Applied Sciences. 2023;13(19):10561. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/app131910561
  2. Reuters Staff. Patriot in focus amid missile defense system shortage. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/patriot-focus-amid-missile-defense-system-shortage-2024-06-21/. Published June 21, 2024.
  3. Doppler Applications in LEO Satellite Communication Systems. Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2002. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/b117718
  4. Motion sensors and detectors. Bosch Security and Safety Systems I Global. https://www.boschsecurity.com/xc/en/solutions/intrusion-alarm-systems/motion-sensors-and-detectors/
  5. Dobutamine Stress Echocardiogram. www.hopkinsmedicine.org. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/dobutamine-stress-echocardiogram
  6. John Hopkins Medicine. Fetal Heart Monitoring. John Hopkins Medicine. Published 2019. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/fetal-heart-monitoring
  7. Castilla-Guerra L, Gómez Escobar A, Gómez Cerezo JF. Utility of Doppler ultrasound for the study of ocular vascular disease. Revista Clínica Española (English Edition). 2021;221(7):418-425. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rceng.2020.11.007
  8. Carrico, R., Furmanek, S., English, C. Ultrasound probe use and reprocessing: Results from a national survey among U.S. infection preventionists. American Journal of Infection Control. 2018;913-20.
  9. VascuChek: A Handheld, Vascular Doppler Device. 2022. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://vascuchek.com/features/
  10. Doppler Probes. 2022. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://vascuchek.com/probe-sensors/