Fresenius Kidney Care and Biim Ultrasound AS have announced an agreement to expand use of Biim’s innovative ultrasound system for assisting needle cannulation prior to dialysis treatment.
Fresenius successfully piloted the use of Biim’s ultrasound system at more than two dozen dialysis centres in 2020—in an effort to improve the patient experience and reduce access failures—and this fresh, expanded rollout will involve hundreds of additional centres throughout the USA in early 2022.
While often used in a hospital setting, ultrasound has not yet been widely or routinely used in outpatient dialysis centres to assist with cannulation, as per a Fresenius press release.
“We have received positive feedback from patients who notice a difference when cannulation is assisted by ultrasound,” said Jeffrey Hymes, chief medical officer of Fresenius Kidney Care and executive vice president, global head of clinical affairs for Fresenius Medical Care. “The use of ultrasound also has the potential to reduce the incidence of damage to the vascular access that is so critical to patient outcomes.”
Biim is a fast, flexible, cordless ultrasound system that has the ability to scan patients and review images in seconds, offering a practical way to enhance decision-making and help improve patient outcomes. This is according to a press release, which also notes that Biim is easy to operate, with a simple app interface, so that scanning can begin within seconds.
