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European Journal of Echocardiography Advance Access originally published online on October 22, 2008
European Journal of Echocardiography 2009 10(3):389-394; doi:10.1093/ejechocard/jen295
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

High incidence of defective ultrasound transducers in use in routine clinical practice

Mattias Mårtensson1,*, Mats Olsson2, Björn Segall5, Alan G. Fraser4, Reidar Winter3 and Lars-Åke Brodin1

1 School for Technique and Health, KTH, Campus Flemingsberg, Alfred Nobels Allé 10, 141 52 Huddinge, Sweden
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
3 Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
4 Wales Heart Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
5 BBS Medical AB, Vätö, Sweden

Received 13 June 2008; accepted after revision 28 September 2008; online publish-ahead-of-print 22 October 2008.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +46 8 790 48 72; fax: +46 8 21 83 68.E-mail address: mmar{at}kth


  Abstract

Aims: The objective was to evaluate the function of ultrasound transducers in use in routine clinical practice and thereby estimating the incidence of defective transducers.

Methods and results: The study comprised a one-time test of 676 transducers from 7 manufacturers which were in daily use in clinical departments at 32 hospitals. They were tested with the Sonora FirstCall Test System; 39.8% exhibited a transducer error. Delamination was detected in 26.5% and break in the cable was detected in 8.4% of the tested transducers. Errors originating from the piezoelectrical elements were unusual. Delamination and short circuit occurred without significant differences between transducers from all tested manufacturers, but the errors break in the cable, weak and dead element showed a statistically significant higher frequency in transducers from certain manufacturers.

Conclusion: The high error frequency and the risk for incorrect medical decisions when using a defective transducer indicate an urgent need for increased testing of the transducers in clinical departments.

Keywords: Ultrasound; Transducer; Probe; Test; Defect; Error


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