Transducer Selection in the Speed and Quality of Image Acquisition in FAST Exams

The Focused Assessment of Sonography for Trauma (FAST) is a rapid point-of-care ultrasound exam performed on blunt and penetrating trauma patients who are too critically injured to be transported to a CT scanner. In performing this exam, time to acquisition of adequate images is crucial to clinical decision-making as patients undergoing this exam have a high probability of deteriorating if not intervened on appropriately.

Low-frequency ultrasound is used to image the abdominal cavity and pericardium in these patients, using either a curvilinear transducer or a phased-array transducer. Both of these transducers are capable of acquiring the images necessary to interpret a FAST exam, but it has not been well studied whether using one transducer instead of the other improves time to image acquisition or image quality.

In this study, physician ultrasound operators are asked to perform FAST exams on healthy non-injured volunteers for the purpose of determining if there is a difference in the time to acquisition or quality of images between phased-array and curvilinear transducers.

Inclusion criteria

Study's ultrasound operators must be emergency medicine residents or PA/NP fellows currently enrolled in an emergency medicine training program between the ages of 18 - 64 years who are not pregnant.

Study's healthy normal volunteers must be emergency medicine faculty, fellows, or PA/NPs aged 18-64 with no anatomic abnormalities, prior surgeries, or significant chronic medical conditions.

Exclusion criteria

Pregnant women

Prisoners

Anyone below the age of 18 or above the age of 64 years old

Individuals with abnormal/thoracic anatomy (such as individuals with situs inversus) and individuals with chronic medical conditions that would limit their ability to participate in the study or have ultrasound images taken of them.