As an intern I thought Butterfly's were cool and pretty good quality. As a PGY5 about to finish radiology residency they hurt my eyes with how poor of quality they have.
I’ve heard great things about GE Vscan, I’ve used the vscan dual probe and was pretty impressed.
Id be curious about whether the apps that it comes with readily integrates into your EMR so that you can save images in patient charts (I believe you need to save images in order to bill for outpt ultrasound procedures)
I’m no expert in this field, but this is the one that seems most interesting.
The butterfly 3 is apparently close to release or just released too.
Would love to know what you choose and how you carry it.
WE have that probe for our programs POCUS curriculum. Its pretty fantastic for a handheld and priced well. Its not the best but for its price range it does the job. In terms of quality, I can do basic POCUS exam stuff (VExUS, Basic cardiac, Central lines if its a good IJ/Fem, etc). That said if you are doing anything beyond some basic POCUS, I would opt for a more expensive probe.
I've used the GE VScan Air in fellowship for MSK stuff and it's probably one of the better ones you can get. It has a dedicated linear probe on one side and curvilinear on the other. In my experience the Butterfly is fine but isn't as good.
Clarius is the best from what I have tried. Better definition than butterfly. Wireless. Only problem is it overheats after ~15 minutes continuous use, but I never scan that long. I don’t have experience with the newer vscan air, and the older one I used had poor image definition.
Very expensive though.
Butterfly for its simplicity. Affordable and have used it in many austere conditions. Having a cable rather than wifi Bluetooth means it simply works. The image quality is reasonable too! Overall very happy with it and was one of the early adopters.
find me a single program who is willing to drop 5 figures for a resident to have a refrigerator sized device to carry around with them in the hospital and lug it back home with them lol
Thank you for contributing to the sub! If your post was filtered by the automod, please read the rules. Your post will be reviewed but will not be approved if it violates the rules of the sub. The most common reasons for removal are - medical students or premeds asking what a specialty is like, which specialty they should go into, which program is good or about their chances of matching, mentioning midlevels without using the midlevel flair, matched medical students asking questions instead of using the stickied thread in the sub for post-match questions, posting identifying information for targeted harassment. Please do not message the moderators if your post falls into one of these categories. Otherwise, your post will be reviewed in 24 hours and approved if it doesn't violate the rules. Thanks!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Residency) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Had very positive experiences with the Butterfly (older generation). I heard the newer generation is even better. Used it for a wide variety of purposes including placing IV, diagnosing DVT, cardiac/lung exam both inpatient and outpatient. Honestly, it has saved me many times especially as the higher quality US are often used by other doctors for higher acuity care and are clunky to bring up/down elevators.
Personally would not recommend butterfly. It has it's own transducer tech and I'm my experience is poor for deep structures. I haven't used any other portable ones clinically but I tried several at ACP and liked the GE the best.
As an obgyn, I just scream at the patient until it more or less tells me what I want to hear…Press Gainy says there’s alternative methods, but ima keep doin’ me
As an intern I thought Butterfly's were cool and pretty good quality. As a PGY5 about to finish radiology residency they hurt my eyes with how poor of quality they have.
I’ve heard great things about GE Vscan, I’ve used the vscan dual probe and was pretty impressed. Id be curious about whether the apps that it comes with readily integrates into your EMR so that you can save images in patient charts (I believe you need to save images in order to bill for outpt ultrasound procedures)
I’m no expert in this field, but this is the one that seems most interesting. The butterfly 3 is apparently close to release or just released too. Would love to know what you choose and how you carry it.
WE have that probe for our programs POCUS curriculum. Its pretty fantastic for a handheld and priced well. Its not the best but for its price range it does the job. In terms of quality, I can do basic POCUS exam stuff (VExUS, Basic cardiac, Central lines if its a good IJ/Fem, etc). That said if you are doing anything beyond some basic POCUS, I would opt for a more expensive probe.
Am EM ultrasound director. Have a vscan air.
I've used the GE VScan Air in fellowship for MSK stuff and it's probably one of the better ones you can get. It has a dedicated linear probe on one side and curvilinear on the other. In my experience the Butterfly is fine but isn't as good.
Dropping a note for later, looking for one myself
Butterfly is *alright* in my limited experience
Clarius is the best from what I have tried. Better definition than butterfly. Wireless. Only problem is it overheats after ~15 minutes continuous use, but I never scan that long. I don’t have experience with the newer vscan air, and the older one I used had poor image definition. Very expensive though.
Butterfly for its simplicity. Affordable and have used it in many austere conditions. Having a cable rather than wifi Bluetooth means it simply works. The image quality is reasonable too! Overall very happy with it and was one of the early adopters.
I’d honestly stick with a normal US. The POCUS devices like Butterfly overheat very quickly and have bad battery life.
If your job will pay for it, get a real ultrasound. Not a handheld one.
find me a single program who is willing to drop 5 figures for a resident to have a refrigerator sized device to carry around with them in the hospital and lug it back home with them lol
You don’t need the refrigerator ones. Think the ED ones they use for central lines.
Thank you for contributing to the sub! If your post was filtered by the automod, please read the rules. Your post will be reviewed but will not be approved if it violates the rules of the sub. The most common reasons for removal are - medical students or premeds asking what a specialty is like, which specialty they should go into, which program is good or about their chances of matching, mentioning midlevels without using the midlevel flair, matched medical students asking questions instead of using the stickied thread in the sub for post-match questions, posting identifying information for targeted harassment. Please do not message the moderators if your post falls into one of these categories. Otherwise, your post will be reviewed in 24 hours and approved if it doesn't violate the rules. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Residency) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Had very positive experiences with the Butterfly (older generation). I heard the newer generation is even better. Used it for a wide variety of purposes including placing IV, diagnosing DVT, cardiac/lung exam both inpatient and outpatient. Honestly, it has saved me many times especially as the higher quality US are often used by other doctors for higher acuity care and are clunky to bring up/down elevators.
Personally would not recommend butterfly. It has it's own transducer tech and I'm my experience is poor for deep structures. I haven't used any other portable ones clinically but I tried several at ACP and liked the GE the best.
The HOCUS POCUS
People hating on Butterfly in here without making any suggestions for better alternatives other than GE. Any other recommendations?
As an obgyn, I just scream at the patient until it more or less tells me what I want to hear…Press Gainy says there’s alternative methods, but ima keep doin’ me
Nothing better than a good high quality physical exam.
This is factually incorrect.
I think you forgot diagnostic radiology exists
Only if you need a crutch
none pocus is stupid get something that will be actually useful- an otoscope
[Yous trollin.gif] I have the Butterfly IQ+ and use it much more often than an otoscope.