Dr. Birnholz on Ultrasound Part 15

In other news, Dr. Jason Birnholz is back with his latest Practice of Ultrasound installment. The article looks back at Dr. Birnholz's involvement in ultrasound from its origins, with the establishment of one of the first sonography clinical services at Massachusetts General Hospital, through today, with ultrasound becoming an increasingly common tool used throughout healthcare. He also ponders the rise of what he calls "checklist" ultrasound, in which the exam is performed by minimally trained healthcare personnel and ultrasound is used as a gateway to other imaging tools. This differs from the model of sonography performed by highly trained specialists who might be capable of rendering a diagnosis simply with the tools at hand. In today's era of point-of-care ultrasound and the "electronic stethoscope," it's clear that checklist imaging has won out. But that may not always be the case, especially with new ultrasound technology in development that could lead to major improvements in image quality.