Video Courses Provide Immediate, Focused Tutorials on Ultrasound Procedures at the Patient Bedside NEW YORK - June, 12, 2006 - Sonosite, Inc (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, announced an initiative today that will allow clinicians to refresh their training in specific ultrasound-guided procedures and goal-oriented examinations by viewing compelling, brief and instructionally rich refresher courses on Apple's "fifth generation iPod" with video. The announcement was made from the World Congress on Ultrasound in Emergency and Critical Care Medicine being held from June 11 -14 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.
"The rising cost of healthcare demands that physicians become more efficient, particularly at the point of care. This requires that they retain an extraordinary amount of information. As a result, we see a great need for assistive tools that can fit in a lab coat pocket," said Daniel D. Price, MD, a staff emergency physician at Highland General Hospital in Oakland, California and Director of the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship who also teaches at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Price helped found Mobile Medical Media, a company that creates short instructional videos to teach core procedures to doctors and medical trainees.
At this week's Congress, Drs. Price and Michael B. Stone will be presenting results from their study that examined the effectiveness of a brief bedside hand-held audio/video tutorial, used to teach emergency medicine interns and residents to identify the brachial plexus with hand-carried ultrasound for the administration of regional anesthesia in emergency situations. This presentation will begin at 1:00 pm ET on Wednesday, June 14, during the "Best of Research" Plenary Session.
"Ultrasound is a dynamic, "real time" technology. Ideally, physicians should refresh their ultrasound skills with an equally dynamic training tool," continued Dr. Price. "Focused, well-designed one-to-five minute tutorials can be viewed on an iPod wherever, whenever they are needed, and can bring the physician or medical student up-to-date, on the spot."
"The iPod has profound potential to alter when and where people learn," noted Kevin M. Goodwin, President and CEO of Sonosite. "With this initiative, we are harnessing its potential to help clinicians fully integrate hand-carried ultrasound into their medical practice. Since 1999, the peerless performance, durability and lightweight of Sonosite's ultrasound systems have been enabling point-of-care applications that are truly changing how medicine is practiced. We are delighted to be using Apple's complementary technology to deliver innovative hand-carried education as well, and help clinicians stay current on new ultrasound applications."
From June to September 2006, Sonosite customers purchasing a new MicroMaxx system will also receive a free video-enhanced iPod and two free educational video module downloads from Sonosite's global education web-site. These refresher courses cover the FAST exam (Focused Abdominal Sonography for Trauma) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening. Additional video modules for procedures in anesthesia, surgery, emergency medicine and critical care will be available for purchase from the Sonosite website after this initial period.
The video courses are being produced under an exclusive agreement with Mobile Medical Media. Mobile Medical Media is a physician-owned company that creates brief instructional videos to teach clinicians procedures, such as emergency ultrasound and image-guided regional anesthesia, that are best illustrated in a video format, which is far more revealing than static images. The firm's videos are all designed to be viewed on handheld devices, so they can be used in any environment. While the initial modules produced for Sonosite are in the English language, Sonosite and Mobile Medical Media are preparing equivalent modules in several European and Asian languages.
These refresher courses are designed to provide clinicians with a compelling reminder of how to perform certain procedures with ultrasound guidance, and are not to be used in place of formal training.
Sonosite will be demonstrating the FAST and AAA screening courses on iPods in its booth, #501/502, at the World Congress through Wednesday.
About Sonosite
Sonosite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, with an installed base of more than 25,000 systems. The company, headquartered near Seattle, is represented by eight subsidiaries and a global distribution network in over 75 countries. Sonosite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The company employs approximately 500 people worldwide.
About Mobile Medical Media
Mobile Medical Media LLC (www.mobilemedicalmedia.com) is a physician-owned company that creates short instructional videos to teach core procedures to doctors and medical trainees. Their videos are specifically designed for use on handheld devices at the patient's bedside. Ultrasonography, like many medical procedures, is best illustrated in video format, a far richer medium than still images. Mobile Medical Media's group of experienced physician educators and content developers is uniquely positioned to produce cutting-edge, portable educational videos for use in various patient care settings. The founders of Mobile Medical Media are Dr. David Adler, Samuel R. Brooks, Esq., Dr. Dan Price, Dr. Michael Stone and Dr. Ralph Wang.
