A few days with the Terason t3000: Sexy, Cool, and WOW

Acuson P50,Terason t3000,Vivid i,Vivid e,HCU,portable ultrasound,hand carried ultrasound,ultrasound

 

 

There's a great line in the movie Philadelphia in which Denzel Washington says "Explain it to me like I'm a 6-year old". It's been going through my head since Saturday.

I spent some time in the office this weekend, and my inquisitive 8-year old daughter wanted to see what an ultrasound could do (besides 4D babies). I was going over an ATL HDI 5000, Voluson 730, and wanted to spend time with the Terason t3000 I'd received just a few days prior. I told her I'd show her the inside of her body if she was interested.

She was.

After spending time on the other two units, we came to the Terason.

"Is that your computer?" She says. (I bought a MacBook Pro last year.)

"No, but close. It's an ultrasound." I replied.

"You mean like those big things?" she referred to the HDI 5000 and Voluson 730.

"Yeah, but this one is better," I said as I pressed the side keys to release the ultrasound console in a hydraulic-like fashion.

"A-A-A-AWESOME!" She said.

Hearing her reaction, I stood up straighter, smiled broadly, and was really proud... well, for all the wrong reasons. You see, daddy's work just got a lot cooler and, well, it felt great for daddy's ego. Five minutes prior, we spent time watching her carotid artery and jugular... listening to the vein and artery and watching the blood flow through them in all their red and blue glory. Sure, this was cool to her and very educational... but the James Bond ultrasound was a quadruple-"a" "Awesome". Brushed aluminum and things that slide from nowhere are, apparently, much cooler than anatomy. WhatEver!

So it was time to push it a little. I wanted to see if she could figure out this Terason... I figured that if she can figure it out, it's unlikely that a physician new to ultrasound will struggle.

I asked her to turn on color Doppler. Her finger hovered above the "C" on the console, then she looked at me, not scared, but unsure. I told her to go with her instinct. She pushed C and up came a color box. Unafraid. This is important folks.

She smiled. A REALLY big smile. I was proud for the right reasons this time.

I looked at my wife and said "I wish I had a video camera, but I doubt anyone would believe this is her first time using this." Of course, while I'd like to think my daughter is the most brilliant kid on Earth (duh, she totally is).... the point is that the Terason is NOT THAT HARD. I realized that Terason got this right. Yeah, I'm a nerd for being excited, but when trying to sell something to a person who's never used an ultrasound before, EASE OF USE is nearly as important as Image Quality. Frustration leads to bad studies and inefficiency. That's not good when you're driving a needle into someone's body.

So I told my daughter that I wanted to hear her carotid, and she'd need to turn on Pulsed Wave Doppler. She looks down for two seconds and tentatively presses PW.

The sound comes.

Her smile got bigger.

Excited and intrigued, I walked over to the Voluson i we have in-stock, and saw the softkey buttons in different locations; what I once thought was cool (Voluson i) became frustrating and overcooked ... its user interface is just like the Logiq i and Vivid i. I walked back to the Terason: It's elegant. Not perfect, but elegant and functional. Nice.

We stepped over to a Vivid 7. I looked down and didn't want to crush my daughter's now-lifted ego. I didn't need to ask her. I turned it on and before I could say anything, she said "I don't think I can do this one, daddy." Maybe its size was intimidating, I don't know. I imaged her heart on the short axis and told her: "This is what your heart would like if I cut you in a half with a light saber."

OK, so I lose the "dad of the year award," but it was really funny at the time.

So what's the point here?

Techs enjoy consoles. I enjoy the console, and the Terason console is really great for a compact HCU (hand carried ultrasound). But today's market is growing rapidly in the Physician area and I think they'll be like my daughter: Totally comfortable with the Terason because it feels friendly and is friendly. Techs will be the ones who might be a little more tentative at first, while Physicians will likely be relieved. The console serves both sides well. This unit is simply an extension of the PC (When you boot the system, you get a Windows XP desktop, and you can run it completely from the keyboard if you choose). The console is very functional with fewer softkeys than the GE. It's labeled well and acts like any other PC application (because it is a PC application). However, just as if you're coming from any cart-based system: remember that there's only 12-inches to work with, not 24. Things need to be compressed. Get a console if you want a console. If you need portable, you're remiss if you don't call Terason.

Clearly, SonoSite understands this as well, they've taken most of the buttons OFF their machines that are going to physicians. GE adds more. Philips doesn't have anything.

Terason one-ups the latestby using the common, most user-friendly (and coolest) PC on the market: The MacBook Pro.

In the coming week I hope to get a video out on this system and post it for you. I'm also going to do an update on the Portable Ultrasound Market. SonoSite's new products, the t3000 release (Siemens licensed version that will be the Acuson P50), and some rumblings about Zonare have begun to tilt this market in new directions (FINALLY!).

As always, contact me with questions.
-Brian

 

Comments

[Brian Gill]

Hello Anne,
It sounds like you may not have the vet options enabled or possibly you weren't trained on all the system's features on the T3000 (are you Macintosh Terason T3000 or Samsung)? The vet presets may not be optimized for what you're looking at, and I don't know if they were available for the Samsung T3000 ultrasound... or you might just be used to different images. Overall it should be very easy to optimize, and you could then save your own presets. I sent you private email on this and we can start a conversation so I can put you in touch with the correct people at Terason (if I can't help you). Thanks!
-Brian

[Anne Elise Napier]

Brian,

I am a veterinarian and have owned a Terason 3000 for about 6 months. There are cool things that can be done with it, but I am spending a lot of time being frustrated by image quality, color flow Doppler quality, etc. I suspect that there are settings that I am lacking. Are there resources out there that you know of, that could help me tweak this machine to make it work well? I don't want to give up on it, but I am not getting the technical support that I need. I have used the Ausonics Impact, Acuson Cypress, LogicBook, Sonosite 180H and Micromaxx in the course of my career and have not experienced this level of frustration. Perhaps my expectations were very high.

Anne Elise

[Brian Gill]

Hello Dr. Culliton,

Thanks for your note. Each machine has its advantages in the anesthesia market, and they’ll all say their system is best. They’re all capable machines, but typically the GE systems are ruled out if you’re looking at the Logiq e. It’s a nice unit, but the Terason and SonoSite typically win in an imaging comparison and ease of use in your field.

For what you’re doing, frankly, what it typically comes down to is: Image Quality, Ease of Use, Price... Typically in that order. I’d say you have two great systems there (ruling out the GE), and obviously I’m partial to the Terason. I think the Terason is easier, is more versatile, has a better and larger screen, and is quicker to optimize an image. In addition, you can use a wireless mouse to control it from the other side of the patient and you can be scanning with two clicks of the mouse (by you or an assistant).

Regarding probes... Well, evaluating an image will tell you the results there. I’d be surprised if you liked the GE over the others. They all have compound imaging (different names for similar methods) and they all will tell you about their different and better technology; and they all will believe what they say, which makes your job the difficult one.

My opinion: The GE is probably the lowest of the three for what you’re doing. The next two are typically more subjective of a choice... The S-Nerve is very specific to its application, which can be a positive and a negative. The Terason is more versatile and (in my opinion) easier to use. I think if you scanned 10 patients with each, you’d find that: The Terason will give you quicker image optimization when a new patient is on the table. You won’t have to change the depth, gain, focal zones, maps, frequency range, etc. One-click does it for you on the Terason. The other systems make you go through a couple steps in order to optimize the image for different patients. To me, that’s what is so attractive about the Terason... Ease of use and quick changes to settings.

Long answer to your question: SonoSite or Terason. I would lean towards the Terason. I’m really partial to the system for, among other reasons, what I’ve stated above. It’s easy and has great image quality. Price is last, but I think it’s actually less expensive than the S-Nerve.

I hope that helps!
-Brian

Brian Gill
President, GPS Medical, Inc.

[Mike Culliton]

I am an anesthesiologist look at US machines for nerve blocks we have looked at the Sonosite S nerve the GE logic E and the Terason machines in this order. We are feeling like some of the better image quality is due to us seeing more Ultrasound and actually starting to understand what we see. Each sales rep had something which was very impressive and made the task of comparison daunting. GE touts thier transducers have the greatest number of crystal arrays and give the best image but we thought that Terason was very similar. What is your take on image quality and has GE recently done something to upgrade thier image quality? What is your your opinion on these three units?

[Brian Gill]

Hi Brian,

That sounds about right. I haven't seen the Turbo yet, but the terason should beat the image on the logiq e, I has more channels which should beat the xbeam.

For price, the Terason will be a bit more expensive but the warranty is 3 years. GE will charge a few thousand for each additional year. The Logiq I would be more of a competitor, i'm assuming because the image of the vivid I (upgrade to the e) is more comparable.

Good luck, I'm interested in hearing your opinion.

Brian Gill
President, GPS Medical Inc.
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[Brian Keroack]

Hi Brian and all,

I am a rheumatologist who has been looking into MSK ultrasound for the last 1.5- 2 years. I have taken the Cooper and Rochester courses and read 2 texts and multiple articles and attend ACR national meeting. I have demoed several machines and keep coming back to the GE logiq e. The new b-steer for procedures and X-beaming are impressive and I fount it pretty user friendly. I have not seen the Terason t3000 yet but have an upcoming demo (already saw biosound, sonosite M-turbo, and Zonare). How does the Terason image quality compare? The price of a GE uniit is 35-37K with a 1 year warranty---how does the price of the Terason compare for a rheumatologist without deep pockets? I plan to get a machine as there are so many times I could answer an important patient question (esp shoulder stuff) or need needle guidance (despite 20 years and thousands of injections). Thanks for your input.

Brian