A pilot study involving eight community midwives from Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust in the U.K. suggests that portable, handheld ultrasound has the potential to reduce hospital admissions for presentation scans, reducing the need for patients in remote areas to travel to appointments. Initial feedback from a user questionnaire highlights the system’s ease-of-use and, with further exploration, the users’ confidence in its capability to reduce hospital referrals and encourage more home births.

Myles Taylor, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and Tom Smith-Walker, obstetric specialist registrar at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, carried out the pilot study to investigate the feasibility of using a portable ultrasound device in community midwifery practice. “In our feto-maternal assessment unit, an average of 30 patients per month are referred for presentation scans,” says Smith-Walker, who is also co-author of the study. “Feedback from the midwives using the ACUSON P10™ system suggests that it certainly has the potential to reduce such visits through use in rural locations with scattered communities.” Initial findings were presented at the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society (BMFMS) Annual Congress from June 10-11, 2010 in Gateshead. The authors recommended a larger and more detailed study to provide further confirmation on the effect the ACUSON P10 ultrasound system’s use would have on reducing hospital referrals and the incidence of undiagnosed breeches at term.

An ACUSON P10 handheld ultrasound system from Siemens was used by eight midwives in Exeter for one month, scanning expectant mothers in the third trimester. It is small enough to fit into a coat pocket, weighing just 700 grams and capable of image depth from four to 24 centimeters. Its mobility allows examinations to take place out of the hospital environment with ultrasound imaging taken directly to the patient. “This initial trial suggests the versatility and confidence that portable ultrasound can deliver outside of the traditional hospital environment. The portability of handheld ultrasound imaging devices will assist midwifery and medical professionals in their day-to-day roles,” says Declan Dunphy, Ultrasound Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare in the U.K. “With pressure on hospitals to increase efficiency, it is encouraging to hear positive feedback on the ACUSON P10 ultrasound system’s potential to eliminate the need for patients to travel to hospitals for repeat scans. We are delighted that it has assisted community midwives to achieve improved diagnostic confidence.”