Echo Stethoscope Academy

02/09/2024

"Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Thursday as the CEOs of three drug companies faced questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about why drug prices are so much higher in the United States than they are in the rest of the world."

The Senate HELP committee questioned pharmaceutical CEOs about how much more Americans pay for the same drugs sold for less in Canada, Japan and Europe.

02/09/2024

A5C/A4C selfie with color flow Doppler using the VAVE device (37 sec real-time screen recording). Its sleek probe design, wireless connectivity, good image quality plus color Doppler, and its thoughtful user interface ... and a price tag of ~US$2,700 ... are reasons why I recently bought two! Among my list of devices, this is now my go-to pocket device and an essential travel companion. Disclosure: This is not a paid ad.

10/25/2022

An unseasonably early spike in respiratory syncytial virus cases among young children is pushing some hospitals to capacity.

RSV, as it's called, is a respiratory virus that mostly manifests as a mild illness with cold-like symptoms in adults but can cause pneumonia and bronchiolitis in very young children. It can be life-threatening in infants and young adults.

Most years, infections typically occur in the late fall and winter, often overlapping with flu season. But at least since last year, physicians have begun seeing surges starting during summer months.

The latest spike is months early and it's pushing care facilities to capacity. Children under the age of 5 are most vulnerable.

05/28/2022

Broken Heart Syndrome: Stress-induced damage to heart, also called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (Japanese for the characteristic "octopus pot-shaped" heart). https://youtu.be/oSyvk5W0erI

05/10/2022

Priceless: The "Heart and Coronary Arteries" (1975) by Wallace A. McAlpine, MD. (original hardcover, list price $32,228.61 on Amazon.com) is a little-known masterpiece where he perfusion-fixated, photographed, and illustrated real hearts for the ages.

Link: Heart and Coronary Arteries: An Anatomical Atlas for Clinical Diagnosis, Radiological Investigation, and Surgical Treatment https://www.amazon.com/dp/3540069852/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_3CKZKG4AKEKJ7ZV57WQF

Regrettably, few today have heard of, much less perused its breathtaking pages (confirmed during my meeting with the late Larry Cohn, MD, long-time cardiac surgery chief at the Brigham and Women's/Harvard Medical). In all of Boston, there's perhaps one known public copy at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

I also visited and spoke with MGH's Stuart Houser, cardiothoracic surgeon and then cardiovascular pathologist at the MGH and asked him, "Is there anything like McAlpine's?" His response, without hesitating, remains embedded in my mind, "No, Bernard, there is nothing like McAlpine's."

One reviewer described McAlpine's atlas as "a landmark ... an original work that may be equalled, but will be difficult to surpass."

Personally, I am deeply grateful to Dr. McAlpine, I owe the accuracy and perspectives of my cardiac anatomical illustrations to this magnificent atlas ... a true labour of love.

P.S. I've never seen a medical book with such a price tag, but if you know what went into this work, and what it represents, McAlpine's atlas is at least as iconic as (this may sound like sacrilege to the purist) the medical dissections and drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, except in reputation (for now).

Fortunately for enthusiasts who can't afford or won't ever spend a "small" fortune on a masterpiece, you can at least have your own low cost (low picture quality) ebook version available on Amazon kindle.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bernard-e-bulwer-m-d-fase-6096ab85_priceless-the-heart-and-coronary-arteries-activity-6929764231902842881-zDC6?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app

09/23/2020

https://www.medgadget.com/2020/09/echonous-kosmos-3-in-1-ultrasound-electronic-stethoscope-and-ecg-helps-with-covid-19.html

EchoNous KOSMOS 3-in-1 Ultrasound, Electronic Stethoscope, and ECG Helps with COVID-19 September 21st, 2020 Alice Ferng Cardiology, Critical Care, Diagnostics, Exclusive, Informatics, Medicine, Public Health EchoNous, a developer of novel ultrasounds, has found a way to leverage multiple critical cl...

09/01/2020

Ventricular Systolic Function; 2nd Eds. Echo Illustrated: Vol. 5.
Pub. date (eBook): Sept 1, 2020; 226 pages
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H52R9Q3

1. The Cardiac Cycle and Ventricular Systolic Function.
2. Ventricular Structure and Systolic Function.
3. Blood Flow Hemodynamics and Ventricular Systolic Function.
4. Cardiac Mechanics and Ventricular Function.
5. Global and Regional Measures of RV and LV Systolic Function.
6. LInear and Volumetric Measures of Global LV Systolic Function.
7. Doppler Hemodynamic Measures of Global LV Systolic Function.
8. Global Myocardial Velocity and Deformation Measures of Global LV Systolic Function.
9. Tissue Doppler Imaging and Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.
10. Regional Measures of LV Systolic Function and Ventricular Wall Mechanics.
11.Tissue Doppler Imaging: Myocardial Velocity and Deformation - Strain and Strain Rate Imaging.
12.Speckle Tracking Echocardiography: Myocardial Velocity and Deformation - Strain and Strain Rate Imaging.13.Parametric Displays: Curved Anatomical M-Mode and Bull’s Eye Maps

08/27/2020

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bernard-e-bulwer-m-d-fase-6096ab85_the-ase-june-2020-paper-artificial-intelligence-activity-6704851854402093056-urUe

08/22/2020

No. 1 Bestseller in Radiology/ Ultrasonography (Amazon):
https://www.amazon.com/Transthoracic-Echocardiography-Foundations-Acquisition-Interpretation-ebook/dp/B07HQ71RF1

05/20/2020

REMOTELY (and responsibly) GUIDING, not just MDs, but also non-MDs, to perform ultrasound scans anywhere, any place, anytime. Plus with smartphone and cloud connectivity, this is especially big news for global health.

The FDA has issued new guidance due to COVD-19 and that means technology can expand the reach of telemedicine. Now, a company named Butterfly Network is making it possible for doctors to perform an…