Utility of the Butterfly iQ Ultrasound for Resident and Medical Student Education

Abstract

Nisha R Patel, Sheila Mullen, Bryanna McGowan, Aimee Thomas, Zuhaib Khokhar, Brett Ploussard and Emad Allam*

Objectives: Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has been a rising development in the medical field. POCUS is considered to be an ultrasound brought to the patient and completed by the healthcare provider, as opposed to completed by a sonographer with the images sent to a radiologist for interpretation. Images are acquired and analyzed in real-time to help guide physicians in diagnostic and therapeutic management. In our study, we investigated the benefit of allowing radiology residents and medical students to train with the Butterfly iQ+ device at home to learn how the POCUS probe works, become familiar with its features, and practice scanning on their own.

Methods: Sixteen trainees participated in our study over the course of a year (14 residents, 2 medical students). Study participants were surveyed prior to and following self-directed use of the device.

Results: All participants reported that they would recommend the Butterfly iQ+ device to other residents and rated the device as 5/5 in terms of its use as a learning tool. A positive response to use of POCUS in training was observed in our study.

Conclusion: Our findings continue to support the growing need for a hands-on ultrasound curriculum. They also demonstrate the effectiveness of using a mobile ultrasound device for self-directed learning of ultrasound principles in healthcare training.