Smartphone ultrasound device hits market

Eight months and several hurdles after receiving 510(k) clearance, mobile-health company Mobisante says its smartphone ultrasound device is officially on the market.

The MobiUS system is on the market for $7,495.

(Credit:
Mobisante)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance alone took so long that the MobiUS system--intended to be used in fetal, abdominal, cardiac, pelvic, and peripheral vessel imaging--only works with the 2-year-old Windows Mobile 6.5-based Toshiba TG01 smartphone and requires a USB 2.0 port for the probe. In other words, it won't be compatible with iPhones and Android-based phones, which don't support USB 2.0.

Still, the device, which, at $7,495, is comparable to its main competitor, GE's Vscan, pushes the envelope for ultrasound systems, which can cost upward of $100,000. (GE's solution is also mobile, but it does not use a wirelessly connected handheld device.)

Mobisante co-founder David Zar tells MobiHealthNews that the MobiUS, which is 5.1 inches by 2.75 inches and weighs just over 11 ounces, isn't necessarily a replacement for most systems. But f... [Read more]