South Korea offers some of the most innovative medical IoT devices in the world. One Korean tech entrepreneur named Benjamin Ryu has created a Korean startup called Healcerion. Benjamin has been a major player in the tech industry in Korea for some time now. He has done many projects that include email and digital processing, embedded systems technology, and operating systems technology. He even got a medical doctorate degree in 2011. Therefore, now he is committed to combining his two great loves, technology, and medicine.

Portable Ultrasound Device by Healcerion

Dr. Ryu is fascinated with smartphone technology and is eager to see if smartphone technology can be applied to the medical industry. In 2012 he founded Healcerion which looked to make the first and smallest sonogram device possible that can sync with smartphones as well as tablets. Now people can get instant results on their screens within seconds. Moreover, healthcare professionals can quickly store and share images through an app.

Why the Need for Portable Ultrasounds?

Most ultrasound devices are big and heavy. Therefore, expecting parents need to go to a hospital that carries the device which can cost hospitals over $100,000 (USD) and weigh over 150 pounds. Most emergency rooms don’t carry this device because of the price as well as the size. Now with the device and the app, doctors and hospitals can have easy access to sonograms that are cheap as well as portable. Therefore, portable ultrasounds offer both convenience and speed. By allowing doctors to keep the device on their person, they can conduct examinations and make quick decisions which allow for more time to consult with their patient or move on to other cases.

How does SONON by Healcerion work?

SONON comes in the SONON 300L (for MSK exams) and the SONON 300C (for ultrasounds). The Sonon 300C has a convex probe attached to the end for precise sonogram readings.

Both have a compact design and offer wireless connectivity. In addition, it works with the SONON Ultrasound Imaging System. All SONON devices have been CE and FDA-approved.

Doctors can now bring the device to the patient to provide an instant diagnosis. The image and results will show up on the app within seconds. Imagine a pregnant woman in pain at home unable to move. Therefore, the only option was to bring her to a hospital that actually had a sonogram….now emergency crews can go to her with the device and diagnose the problem in her own home. It is not hard to imagine seeing every hospital do away with the conventional sonogram and use this innovative portable sonogram device.

In addition, doctors in third-world countries perform sonograms out on the field. Now they can have the images sent to hospitals for analysis instantly.

Pregnant women in South Korea get an ultrasound exam every month, however, women in developing countries have to walk great distances to the nearest hospital just to get one ultrasound.

“We work with the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the United Nations to provide our products to local healthcare centers in developing countries,” said CEO of Healcerion, Benjamin Ryu.

Ultrasound for COVID Lung Scanning

SONON can even be used to detect signs of pneumonia in patients. Currently, it is difficult to do CT scans on all patients since it requires large machines. Thanks to SONON, finding patients with pneumonia is very easy. The exam uses the “12 area examination method”.

The three areas of the lung are…

• anterior
• lateral
• posterior

The lungs are further divided into upper and lower fields.

As a result, the two lungs are divided into 12 areas.

The Ultrasound Exam Process

First, the healthcare professional puts the device on the chest wall of the patient perpendicular to the ribs. The healthcare professional moves the device up and down and side to side. The doctor will get a clear image of the plural gland and potential signs of pneumonia. Therefore, doing a comparison of the ultrasound images between a normal lung and an infected lung will reveal clear signs of infection.

A normal lung (left) demonstrates a strong bright horizontal line called the pleura line. Signs of an infected lung (right) are irregular and thickened pleural glands as seen below.