Top 5 Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Apps

5. One Minute Ultrasound

Clinical Utility: A great application if you are starting to learn Ultrasound as a medical student or as an intern, especially since it is free. The app has been reviewed by iMedicalApps before. It teaches the initial skills required for ultrasound. Not as useful to use at the point of care since the app has short videos and you can’t scroll through pictures or reference material.

Developed by the venerable EM Ultrasound team, Mike and Matt, who run the website, Ultrasound Podcast. User Interface: Relatively clear interface with tiles: FAST, Gallbladder, DVT, Aorta, Soft Tissue, Wall Motion, and “More”. “More” contains a set of other one minute ultrasound videos. Each of these has a short, one minute clip (hence the name of the app) about the particular topic. It should be noted the app can only be used if you have an internet connection. The tiles basically link out to a video that has to be streamed.

4. Emergency Ultrasound Handbook

Clinical Utility: As of this article publishing, this app was recently released into the App Store, and based on sections within the app, it appears a “Pro” version of this app will be released as well. The free version we reviewed has useful clinical pictures and diagrams. Especially useful are the color rich diagrams that explain the anatomy you are looking for. Video and Pathology sections of the app are blank for the time being and listed as being available in the “Pro version”. User Interface: The app doesn’t have the most aesthetically pleasing interface, its color use for the menus and transitions could be vastly improved. Sections are divided into concise chapters with great clinical pearls and associated pictures.

3. Emergency Medicine Ultrasound

Clinical Utility: A simple user interface with a great selection of pictures and videos. This application can be used at the bedside to teach medical students and residents and is great for refreshing anatomy prior to doing a bedside ultrasound. One of the interesting features of this app is the dictation template — great if you are trying to bill for an Ultrasound or if you just want to document a particular ultrasound performed. User Interface: All the information you need is quickly accessible from the home page of the App. The only issue I had with the app was the quality of the text and the table graphics. The pictures and video quality was fine, but the text and table graphics can appear slightly blurry and the menus need more work.



2. Pocket Atlas of Emergency Ultrasound

Clinical Utility: We reviewed this app several years ago at iMedicalApps, and were huge fans of how this application has been transitioned from text form. The app works on the iPad and the iPhone, and really comes to life on the iPad. It’s a great app not only for those starting to learn Emergency Ultrasound, but also for seasoned veterans as well due to the number of pictures it contains. The only issue with the app is price — it costs $69.99.  For perspective, the combined price of the other apps in this compilation piece cost less than $15.00. User Interface: Beautiful user interface that shows off hundreds of pictures in a systematic fashion. Especially when using this app on the iPad, learning and teaching Emergency Ultrasound can become fun due to the beautiful interface.

1. SonoSupport: A Clinical Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Ultrasound Reference Tool

Clinical Utility: This is essentially an ultrasound course packed into a medical app. The app is divided into chapter form and is extremely detailed. Not only do you have the typical sections within the app, such as IVC, eFAST, Cardiology, and more — but you have some sections not found in other Ultrasound apps, such as Testicular and Appendicitis. There are sections within this app that aren’t even found in the Pocket Atlas of Emergency Ultrasound app. User Interface: The overall interface can sometimes feel sluggish when going through transitions. When you are within a chapter, there is a great tab that enables you to jump to key sections. This is especially useful when you want to use the app at the point of care.