The platform, developed in France and used now in Europe and Canada, will enable health systems in the US to conduct ultrasounds via telemedicine, expanding the reach to remote and rural patients and improving diagnoses and clinical outcomes.
A New Jersey health system will be the first in the country to offer digital health-enabled ultrasound technology developed in France.
Officials at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), part of the RWJBarnabas Health health system, and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) say the MELODY platform enables providers to conduct imaging through a telemedicine platform, enabling patients to access the service in more locations and providers to improve clinical outcomes.
“Imagine that a patient comes to an Emergency Department in the middle of the night and there are no sonographers present to perform the imaging exam that he or she needs,” Partho Sengupta, MD, FACC, Chief of Cardiology at RWJUH and the Henry Rutgers Professor of Cardiology and Chief of the Division of Cardiology at RWJMS, said in a press release. “In the very near future, we can connect with a sonographer at another hospital or from their home to perform a cardiac ultrasound exam that could be lifesaving.”
The platform, approved for clinical use by the US Food and Drug Administration and already being used in Europe and Canada, consists of a robotic arm, the ultrasound machine and video conferencing technology that allows clinicians at different locations to communicate with the patient. It was developed by AdEcho Tech, based in Naveil, France.
By incorporating digital health capabilities, executives say the platform not only allows smaller, rural and remote health systems to conduct ultrasounds, but also allows them to connect virtually with specialists who can facilitate more and better diagnoses.
Sengupta said integrating AI technology into the platform could improve the service even more, giving providers a more robust clinical decision support tool.
“Many cardiovascular diseases remain undetected for a long time and can be silent killers,” Sengupta said. “Combining robotic tele-ultrasound technology with new and existing AI capabilities will provide us with a tremendous opportunity for early detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease in our communities and help us save lives.”
Executive say the platform also helps to address the chronic shortage of ultrasound technologists and sonographers in the country, reduces injuries and strain caused by repetitive movements in manual ultrasounds, and could reduce exposure to infectious diseases like COVID-19 and radiation.
Clinicians at the two hospitals tested the platform in January, and are working to make the service available to patients later this year.
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation at HealthLeaders.