Ultrasound Images to be Taken From Your Phone

Computerized footage of an ultrasound device in development by Israeli startup PulseNmore that would let an expectant mother check on her baby through her smartphone. (Screen capture: Hadashot)

Israeli device would let pregnant women take ultrasound scans on phone

PulseNmore has conducted 'successful tests' on product, says it's nearing completion; images can be sent directly to physicians

An Israeli startup is in the final stages of developing a revolutionary handheld ultrasound device that will allow pregnant women to check on the health of their baby using only a smartphone.

PulseNmore LTD. says its device can connect to any smartphone, displaying the images on its screen and sending them to the pregnant woman’s personal doctor for examination, Hadashot TV reported Tuesday.

The invention could revolutionize ultrasound tests and the frequency in which expectant mothers check on their unborn child, especially in Israel, where women undergo 6-8 tests on average, according to Prof. Israel Meisner, head of the Obstetric Ultrasound Unit at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

“The new development has one big advantage, which is the calming effect,” Meisner told Hadashot. “Women sometimes don’t feel movement, call their doctor and are told to go to an emergency room. Here there’s the option to put a phone on her stomach and see her baby.”

“The purpose is to use it only when necessary, when there’s anxiety,” Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein, co-founder of PulseNmore, told the TV station.

The device has yet to receive approval from the Health Ministry. But the company says it has been successfully tested in the United States.

PulseNmore says its device can be used for up to 25 ultrasound checks and will retailed at around NIS 700 ($190) once it receives certification from the Health Ministry.

That cost doesn’t include payment to the doctor examining the image. But the startup said it was in talks with Israeli health funds on the subject, since the device could save them money by making costly ultrasound tests unnecessary.

“To prevent misunderstandings: this is not an ultrasound to check for defects or pregnancy measurements,” Meisner said. “This is a device with the sole purpose of calming a woman down, to give her the chance to see her fetus, connect to it when she is stressed, and understand that it is looking okay.”