Imaging diagnostics: 6 ways to tell if your ultrasound unit is obsolete

As a healthcare provider, you rely on top performance from your imaging diagnostics equipment in order to better detect urgent health issues, inform patients' treatment plans, and optimize their care. Older equipment, with its high risk of failure and breakdown, can cause critical delays in the diagnosis and treatment processes¹; dated systems can also endanger the safety of both patients and medical staff, increase operating and repair costs, and lead practices to "throw good money after bad" in a potentially protracted cycle.¹ 

As a healthcare provider, you rely on top performance from your imaging diagnostics equipment in order to better detect urgent health issues, inform patients' treatment plans, and optimize their care. Older equipment, with its high risk of failure and breakdown, can cause critical delays in the diagnosis and treatment processes¹; dated systems can also endanger the safety of both patients and medical staff, increase operating and repair costs, and lead practices to "throw good money after bad" in a potentially protracted cycle.¹     

Technical or functional obsolescence quickly erodes the effectiveness of radiology equipment. Like all other types of diagnostic tools, your organization's ultrasound unit has a lifespan, resulting in unavoidable breakdowns and lost or corrupted image quality and rendering it useless after a certain time period, generally five to seven years.²     

When your equipment starts to show signs of obsolescence, the clock on leveraging the return on your investment starts ticking. How can your organization protect its investment? How do you best safeguard your patients' health? Fortunately, at least six performance clues can indicate when it's time for a new ultrasound system. Understanding these warning signs can help you recognize these signals more quickly and expedite the upgrade process.     

Shortened battery life 

As with any piece of electronic equipment, the battery in your ultrasound unit will weaken as your unit ages. While advancements in technology, specifically the integration of the lithium-ion option, have yielded longer-than-ever battery life, inadequate battery performance in older systems can mean signs of decline. Compromised batteries can delay scans and affect their reliability, which can impact diagnosis and subsequent treatment.³     

Transducer (probe) function issues 

The transducer is arguably one of the most important tools in the ultrasound process. The most common indicators of a damaged transducer include increasingly inaccurate readings, gradual difficulty conducting deep readings, and image dropout, which is usually exhibited through patches of dark blurs or lines on the image screen. Image dropout can occur for a number of reasons, including broken or bent pins and damage to the acoustic array. Probe failures can also lead to attenuation, or the reduction in amplitude of the ultrasound beam. 

Slower boot-up and display transition 

Your ultrasound machine should start up quickly, transition seamlessly from task to task, and offer an efficient refresh rate of screen displays. Delays can indicate a deep-rooted hardware issue. Over time, functionality slows, diminishing the equipment's ability to match its initial operational workload. While these declines may roll out gradually, and may respond to routine maintenance, they will eventually erode the quality of patient care.

Lack of upgradability and adaptability 

While today's ultrasound technology can be easily upgraded through remote-installed software, many outdated machines don't have that option. Many practices are replacing systems with more limited functionality, opting for units that can, among other features, scan multiple parts of the body through anatomy-specific probes and productivity tools. This versatility is a must for care providers looking to expand their scope of services and branch out to more patient populations. 

Outdated technology 

Antiquated ultrasound technology can threaten your organizational growth and the quality of patient care offered in your practice. It can also carry a significant, negative financial impact, contribute to clinician frustration, and limit the number of patients you can effectively see and diagnose.⁴  

Your organization's needs shift, and technology in the ultrasound space is evolving at a rapid pace. Innovations in design, performance, and versatility have eclipsed system features and functionalities that were standard just a few short years ago. These new functionalities include: 

• The latest one-press image optimization tools for maximum scan confidence and efficiency.   

• User-friendly features, like hands-free voice comments and templatized imaging acquisition protocol assistance, which can help save your staff and patients' time.  

• Onboard education and guidance tools to help increase proficiency in new users. 

• Special protocol and productivity tools that allow for more organ-specific scans and assessments. 

Many legacy systems lack the versatility clinicians need to grow and refine their scope of treatment. 

Overall inefficiency 

Let's remember that your healthcare infrastructure is there to make your life easier, not more difficult. Inefficiency in ultrasound utilization takes many forms, including, but by no means limited to: 

• Size. The size of the system and its corresponding lack of maneuverability can impede efficiency and even clinical efficacy. Space is precious in most healthcare organizations, and bulky and oversized systems that permanently occupy a larger space can eat into it even more. Today's smaller or even portable options help clinicians meet these challenges. 

• Workflow and administrative problems. Legacy systems commonly suffer from fragmented administrative workflow and poor integration with other elements of your healthcare infrastructure. The inability to automate basic tasks means your system eats up more time and manual effort to perform, process, and analyze scans. In addition to efficiency issues, the introduction of human error in manual processing (e.g., labelling) can affect accuracy and information security. 

• Need for intensive training. As ultrasound design and functionalities improve, so does the ease of operation. Older systems' relatively complicated design may require more ongoing education and support, occupying the time of clinicians who need to be more focused on patient care. Many of today's systems are engineered and designed to accommodate users of all experience levels, while offering succinct, yet comprehensive, online training and education. 

Expired warranty and support agreements also indicate inefficiency and obsolescence. After all, if the vendor is no longer willing to back product performance, why should you? 

There's no AI in "obsolete" 

Finally, it's impossible to talk about ultrasound obsolescence without acknowledging the continued impact of artificial intelligence on the evolution of imaging diagnostics. AI-enabled features increasingly hasten the need for upgrades: they go further than ever to automate basic related tasks, link clinical and administrative processes, and make the scan cycle phase faster and easier. 

As ultrasound technology evolves, obsolescence and upgrade needs are rightly on the minds of clinicians of all experience levels. These six signs can help guide the decision to take action and purchase a new system.

Discover how upgrading to a modern primary care ultrasound system can transform patient care and streamline your workflow.

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