A new software upgrade has provided
new capabilities to the SONIMAGE HS1
Ultrasound System, including AI-assisted
voice control

Konica Minolta adds new features to SONIMAGE HSI Ultrasound with software upgrade

February 04, 2019
by John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter
Users of Konica Minolta’s SONIMAGE HS1 Ultrasound System can expect greater functionality and new imaging capabilities for enhanced clinical workflow through the release of a new software upgrade.

Designed for musculoskeletal practitioners, the system now offers a variety of new features, including AI-assisted voice control functionality, that are meant to increase confidence in diagnoses and treatment management at the point-of-care.

“MSK practitioners expect their ultrasound systems to provide the best user experience, while raising the level of patient care,” Joan Toth, senior product marketing manager at Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas, told HCB News. “New system functionality, such as panoramic viewing and voice control, delivers improved workflow and enhanced image quality for diagnosis. This, in turn, provides a real-time, bedside, non-ionizing imaging modality for the patient and can often be used in place of more expensive imaging tests, such as MR.”

With AI-powered voice recognition technology, users can conduct hands-free operations during interventional procedures using simple voice commands to control system functions. A clinician, for instance, can hold the transducer in one hand and a needle or syringe in the other without the need for an assistant and maintaining the sterile field during exams.

The machine learning technology analyzes data from actual interactions to improve performance and accuracy, creating a voice control environment that supports proper operator ergonomics, and allows clinicians to feel more comfortable and focus more on the patient and procedure.

Users also have access to qualitative and quantitative imaging data through a new panoramic view that allows them to stitch together a series of images for a broader view of patient anatomy. With it, they can examine large-sized lesions, display an entire abnormality, build a cross-section image of a structure, and assess the relationship of two structures in a single image. This opens up the field of view for more accurate clinical diagnoses, measurements and interventions.

Another asset is the UltraAdjust one-touch image optimization feature, which can adjust depth to automatically alter multiple imaging parameters, such as frequency, focus and compounding, for greater image quality and resolution. This function, which can be activated with the new voice control operation as well, boosts confidence in diagnosis, therapeutic needle guidance and rehabilitation monitoring.

The addition of these capabilities is important as point-of-care MSK ultrasound continues to grow in use, image quality and efficiency, according to Toth.

“Musculoskeletal ultrasound applications are relatively underutilized compared to traditional ultrasound, such as radiology and cardiac scans,” she said. “With the miniaturization of technology, portable ultrasound systems equipped with high frequency transducers are now available to fulfill the relatively superficial scanning of soft tissue and joints at the bedside. MSK clinicians can not only diagnose and identify pathological findings but also provide interventional procedures and treatments under ultrasound guidance. The additional software features and system capabilities now available on SONIMAGE HS1 improve image quality, workflow and ease of operation, allowing the use of ultrasound to be more universally utilized among MSK clinicians.”

Konica Minolta will demonstrate the new functionality of the system at Physiatry '19, the annual meeting of the Association of Academic Physiatrists, between February 19 and 23 in Puerto Rico.