Comparison of four handheld point-of-care ultrasound devices by expert users

The Ultrasound Journal

Table 1 Characteristics of the point-of-care ultrasound expert users

Characteristic	All experts (%) n = 24
Specialty^a
Internal medicine/hospital medicine	13 (54)
Emergency medicine	6 (25)
Critical care medicine	6 (25)
Pulmonary medicine	4 (17)
Pediatrics	2 (8)
Female	8 (33)
United States region
South (TX)	13 (54)
East (NY, NC)	5 (21)
West (CA, OR, CO)	4 (17)
Midwest (MN)	2 (8)
Completed ultrasound fellowship or certificate program^b
Yes	17 (71)
Clinical experience in practice
0–5 years	5 (21)
6–10 years	8 (33)
> 10 years	11 (46)
Experience using point-of-care ultrasound
0–5 years	4 (17)
6–10 years	14 (58)
> 10 years	6 (25)
Applications routinely used^c
Procedural guidance	22 (92)
Heart	23 (96)
Lungs/pleura	24 (100)
Abdomen	22 (92)
Vascular	22 (92)
Skin/soft tissues	18 (75)

^aSix experts have two different specialties
^bIncludes completion of a dedicated ultrasound fellowship, the Chest or Society of Hospital Medicine’s POCUS certificate programs, or testamur status of the Advanced Critical Care Echocardiography or General Echocardiography by the National Board of Echocardiography
^cExperts were allowed to select more than one application and each application represents a percentage of 24 experts