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Recommendations for ultrasound probe consumerretail
Looking to buy a Butterfly type ultrasound probe, basically a portable ultrasound probe that I can connect to my phone or computer, to do very basic ultrasound exams. Not planning to use it clinically, on patients, or any official use. Just for family and friends, more or less just for fun. As a radiologist it seems like a logical thing to have, even if not used for billable treatment/diagnostic activities.
So, been looking around and I found mainly:
-Butterfly – expensive and requires subscription. Sub is cheap but seems unnecessary
– Eagleview – more expensive but no sub, possibly cheaper in the long run. images look better but are stock images
-old sonosite – seems like the cheapest, can buy on ebay potentially, unsure of image quality? Used these in residency as did many and its very reliable but never struck me as exceptionally good image quality, but perhaps better than the other probe only set ups?
– janky chinese ultrasound probes, with or without display computers, on ebay/ali baba. Dirt cheap but obviously the quality or even basic functionality is in question. May not even work. Unlikely to have return policy. Probably not a good option but just thought id mention.
-any other suggestions? -
10 Replies
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Butterfly is decent, but without the subscription you can’t even do color Doppler. It’s a bit of a scam especially considering the price of the probe already, but there aren’t many options. I have a Clarius L7 also which looks great but is only a linear probe unless the Butterfly which I would say is a blend between convex and linear. No experience with Eagleview but I would consider that especially if there’s a return policy.
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How much was the clarius L7? From website it seems pretty expensive
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what is the cheapest option, anyone know?
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I found one used on eBay for about 1.5k.
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Thanks nighthawker!
Any issues with your clarius? issues connecting to iphone or ipad, computer? battery life good? does it connect wirelessly? Whats your overall review of it-
I have the GE VScan handheld probe. Connects easily to iPad/iPhone. I use it for a quick evaluation of clinic pts and for IR procedures. Is a combo linear and curved (abdominal).
No big issues. Had it for several years and still holds a good charge despite daily usage.
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Clarius quality is very nice, I would say comparable to a dedicated machine. 7 Mhz may be limiting for some applications. Better IQ than Butterfly for sure. I’ve never used it for long enough to run into limits with battery life. Yes, connects to phone/tablet over Wifi.
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Is this the same as the clarius probe you got?
[link=https://www.ebay.com/itm/325617511220?hash=item4bd050eb34:g:N1MAAOSwvCdkOXMz&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4AVLs3OGbCpUkgRFMp4wHjmqgHulwFps%2F%2F78jVc5so05wGg4V71P3CxHYdrZDayT1TLKXUigxEwZjDQtEObQxegMFCDtKMQAdbmIuatF6jY%2BlQtiSvabzuveQ0VqTmyNDpisidwzifKFJdPCPPHL2bagXoscjJG0Qe478wyH4i6O8GKVD3MRKE8x350cySjWM7hIk0v2qW7uZj4VDi8zms3J8QvLN4tkccDQq9xhT0u89AmVwyUxkZJBCia%2FYZ%2FIebHIglRDbvuAMgemNbRKCJzMj6zSqkO0DDjRzH6G8DwG%7Ctkp%3ABFBM3qLKz41i]https://www.ebay.com/itm/…G%7Ctkp%3ABFBM3qLKz41i[/link]It sounds like its for breast imaging, any issues with penetration for body imaging ie liver,kidneys, etc?
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Yes that is the same one. Well, it’s a linear probe, you wouldn’t want to use it for abdominal imaging.
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I have a corded GE VScan handheld probe with dual heads.
Image quality of all these handhelds is limited. If you are used to images from standard US machines in hospitals, lower your expectations.
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