Home Ultrasounds are Now a Reality for Pregnant Women

When you are expecting a baby, you want everything to be perfect, well as perfect as possible. That’s why prenatal care including doctor visits, and ultrasounds are so important. Now, a new Israeli medical startup has made it even easier for women to get that care.

PulseNmore, located in Omer, in the Negev and founded in 2015  just announced the launch of a new device that allows pregnant women to perform at-home ultrasound scans, according to The Times of Israel and shares the results immediately with their physicians.

The first HMO to purchase the new device is Clalit Health Services; the largest healthcare provider in the country with 4.6 million members. In fact, the device will be subsidized to members and will be available soon.

"At home tele-ultrasound scanning is a major leap forward in digital medicine and prenatal health," said Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein, founder and CEO of PulseNmore in a company press release. "We have successfully miniaturized the traditional ultrasound system to create a solution that is both affordable and accessible for expectant families.”

This handheld tele-ultrasound device will eliminate the need for women to go to clinics or hospitals thereby eliminating the potential exposure during the coronavirus pandemic and after.

The new device combined with a smartphone that uses an application and AI tools in the scanning process and displays high quality digital images that are shared with the healthcare provider of the mom-to-be. The doctor or sonographer checks the scans and can either reassure her that everything is fine or give instructions to visit a clinic or hospital.

“According to Clalit, pregnant women pay "false" visits to the emergency room more than twice on average with concerns about their baby's well-being,” said Sonnenschein. But avoiding unnecessary trips to ERs is just one of the benefits.

"In today's connected world, women and their partners want and deserve to know about the well-being of their baby without having to visit the emergency room. PulseNmore makes that possible," said Leor Wolff, head of Translational Innovation and eHealth Division at Clalit Health Services.

In fact, Clalit reviewed over 1,300 self-scans in their initial study and was able to see fetal movement, heart activity, and amniotic fluid in 95 percent of the scans according to Wolff. The device has  the European CE mark of approval, AMAR approval for medical use in Israel and is undergoing FDA review.

PulseNmore is planning on breaking into European markets and hopes to market this remarkable technology to other healthcare providers. Now that should help with peace-of-mind for expectant moms around the world.

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