Echophone · Launching the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Technology of the Future

Ultrasound is one of the safest diagnostic technologies used in medicine. But current ultrasound technology is severely limited: it is expensive, bulky and very complex to handle. Ultrasound devices started as card-based devices in the 1950 and the first hand-carried versions were launched in the 2000s. Since 2015, there have been attempts to create a pocket-size point-of-care (POC) version. So far, the commercial POC versions do not measure up as they sacrifice image quality for low cost and size. But this is an important challenge to overcome as POC ultrasound can save lives .At Somax System S.L., we have invented Echophone, the most versatile high-performance ultrasound imaging device on the market. Echophone represents a pocket -size device that has all the technical features found in a commercial ultrasound system. It offers the same high standards in image quality and clinical outcomes at an affordable price. In other words, the patented Echophone is the first European POC ultrasound device.Advances in semi-conductor technology and parallel computing were the main aspects allowing us to create Echophone. Specifically, the lower power consumption of the new generation of chips allowed us to create a hand-held device with a novel electronic architecture. Likewise, thanks to the latest advances in parallel computation our algorithms can run over it in real-time. Our innovation can make us an important player in the European portable ultrasound market that was €1.3 billion in 2018.We plan to sell the Echphone at €7,000/device first to medical institutions (hospitals, specialists, GPs) and to other industries. Our team consists of three partners, which together have over 35 publications in refereed journals or scientific publications.Prognosis improvement in Primary Care attention would save over €3.5 billion in the EU healthcare systems and enhance the wellbeing of 185 million people.