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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M AY 2 0 1 4
angled blades can still use them with the system.
Having tried it out, I have to say it's actually really neat — an intriguing
idea for sure. And of course every time you make a hole, there's a certain
amount of trauma, so in theory, if you can eliminate holes, that's a good
thing. Facilities will certainly want to advertise that you can do procedures
in a way that reduces pain and increases patient satisfaction. I question
whether the extra cost is offset by having a couple of fewer weeks of dis-
comfort. That's something we'll know better after there are more studies
on the technology.
GE Healthcare
Venue 40
One of the cool features on this compact point-of-care ultrasound sys-
tem is the addition of 4 programmable buttons on the probe. A physi-
cian who's doing a needle-guided regional block can control the sys-
tem from the transducer itself. If you want to freeze an image and
snap a photo, or increase the depth or the focal zone, instead of hav-
ing to ask someone else in the room, you can do it yourself.
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O R T H O P E D I C S
SPACE SAVER Steris's new
tables can accommodate
big patients with a small footprint.
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TOUCH AND GO The compact Venue
40 from GE Healthcare (center, bot-
tom) uses touch-screen technology.
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