Health Canada Approves Third-Generation Wireless Ultrasound Scanners

Clarius Mobile Health has received Health Canada approval for its third-generation product line of high-performance handheld ultrasound scanners that wirelessly connect to the clinician’s Apple and Android smart devices with an AI-powered application. Now 30 percent smaller, lighter, and more affordable, the new pocket-sized scanners aim to put premium handheld ultrasound into the hands of more clinicians.
 
“As a Vancouver-based company, it’s especially gratifying to enable more Canadian clinicians to use our affordable and intuitive ultrasound scanners to make an accurate diagnosis, confidently treat patients, and safely guide procedures,” Clarius President Ohad Arazi said. “Our new Clarius HD3 is no bigger than my iPhone, yet it offers the same high-performance imaging as a traditional ultrasound scanner for a fraction of the cost. Plus, we’ve replaced complex knobs and buttons with artificial intelligence and touch-based controls, so it’s as easy to operate as your smart phone.”
 
While ultrasound is recognized as a safe imaging tool that enables clinicians to quickly see beneath the skin, price and lack of specialty training have historically been barriers to widespread adoption. With Clarius HD3, high-definition ultrasound imaging has reached new levels of affordability and usability, according to Clarius Mobile Health.
 
Ulrike Dehaeck, M.D., one of seven specialists in obstetrics and gynecology practicing at the Vancouver OBGYN clinic, said switching to Clarius from an old cart-based system has changed the way she uses ultrasound. “Ultrasound is now more accessible and available for all of us to use. It’s so small, I often carry it with me between visits. It saves time for us and our patients because for some things that are amenable to bedside scanning, we can use Clarius to quickly confirm our clinical decision right there instead of sending a patient away for a departmental ultrasound,” Dehaeck noted.
 
The company offers new specialized software packages designed to make Clarius ultrasound easier to use for many specialty applications including advanced breast, aesthetics, musculoskeletal,  obstetrics, primary/critical care, and vascular. 
 
Oron Frenkel, M.D., an emergency physician practicing in Vancouver and chairman of the Clarius Medical Advisory Board, believes point-of-care-ultrasound (POCUS) is at a transitional moment. “Many of us trained with carts that were old school. They were good enough to get the image. Now we’re seeing app-based point-of-care ultrasound run on smartphones that all my colleagues already have. The integration with the computing power in the devices makes amazing images seamlessly available at our fingertips. The technology has advanced beyond what was conceivable even five years ago,” Frenkel said.
 
The Clarius HD3 line of ultra-portable scanners is built with the latest antenna technology for steadfast connectivity and operates on both iOS and Android devices. Octal beamforming technology delivers up to eight times faster frame rates and micron-level resolution compared to other handhelds.
 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared new Clarius HD3 scanners last year. 
 
More than 2 million high-definition scans have been performed using Clarius wireless handheld scanners. Clarius scanners are available in more than 90 countries worldwide.