Cardiac Ultrasound, also known as cardiac Doppler ultrasound, cardiovascular ultrasound, or echocardiography has become a leading method of detecting heart disease. Today’s ultrasound technology allows healthcare professionals to see a problem clearly, quickly and with greater precision than ever before leading to outstanding patient care.

The affordability, portability, and extensive capabilities of today’s ultrasound machines make them an indispensable tool that healthcare providers utilize in the diagnosis and care of their patients.

Purchasing an ultrasound unit is a large investment, so identifying a unit that best suits your needs and budget is critical. For that reason, we have developed this cardiac ultrasound blog series to provide recommendations based on options, features, performance, and price to help guide you into a unit perfect for your needs.

Types of Cardiac Ultrasound

Ultrasound is used to detect medical issues related to cardiac health through a variety of methods such as cardiac ultrasound, venous Doppler, carotid Doppler, and intravascular ultrasound.

• Doppler ultrasound is able to show the movement of blood flow through the heart and the heart’s vascular structures. It can be used to evaluate the direction and speed of blood flow and anomalies such as obstructions to blood flow or blood clots.
• Cardiac Ultrasound or echocardiogram is able to view the heart function, muscles, valves and more by bouncing sound waves off the heart to create an image in motion. This allows Doctors to view the anatomy and function of the heart from different angles.
• Duplex cardiac ultrasound systems offer a combination of Doppler and regular ultrasound providing an overall clear view of the heart function, blood flow, and surrounding vascular structures.

Most cardiac ultrasound procedures are quick and non-invasive. This allows providers the ability to measure heart health in a way that is less stressful for the patient. These non-invasive ultrasounds are referred to as transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). However, in some cases, a patient can be more difficult to image due to interference from the lungs or ribcage. In these cases, a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) is required whereby a small transducer is inserted into the esophagus bypassing the interference.

Healthcare providers might require the ability to perform various exam types, they may be concerned with obtaining the highest quality image, or they may seek a solution for scanning difficult to image patients. These factors and more have lead to the need for a wide variety of ultrasound machine options and features and these various options and features can lead to widely different price points.

Selecting the Right Cardiac Ultrasound System

Not all ultrasound machines are created equal and when making such a large investment selecting just the right unit is important. There are many choices of ultrasounds on the market but only some that offer the options and features that make them ideal for use as cardiac ultrasound machines. Cardiac ultrasounds come with a wide variety of options from economy units with Basic 2D and Doppler to flagship units with 4D imaging, automated tools, and more. For that reason, we at National Ultrasound are providing our recommendations across four different categories based on options, features, performance, and price.  These categories are Entry-level, Mid-level, Flagship, and Portable.

Our recommendations come from these four well-known brands that manufacture cardiac ultrasound machines:

• GE Healthcare
• Philips
• Siemens ACUSON
• Mindray

Whether console or portable, entry-level or flagship, new, used or refurbished, our National Ultrasound team will help you select the right cardiac ultrasound machine at a great price.

Please read the next article in our cardiac ultrasound series – GE Cardiac Ultrasound Machines- Making a Sound Investment and make sure to subscribe to our blog to receive future installments in this series. If you have questions about cardiac ultrasounds please contact our team, we are always happy to help.

About National Ultrasound

Since our founding in 2003, we at National Ultrasound have focused on a single product category: new and used ultrasound systems, parts and probes. We are a company of technicians with more than 250 years of collective experience working with equipment from the six largest ultrasound manufacturers. Our focus on being the best and most knowledgeable in a single industry is what has led to our position as the #1 dedicated ultrasound supplier in the United States and allows us to provide the best equipment and service to health care professionals across the globe.

Our mission is to continually provide our customers with quality ultrasound equipment and services at the lowest possible prices.

Our standards are high and our reputation for quality equipment and service precedes us. We are able to provide better value to our customers because we are always looking for the most affordable, best quality systems.

Let one of our experienced sales staff, who are also sonographers assist you further by evaluating your needs, answering questions and providing a price quote. Contact us today.

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Entry to Flagship Level Units>>