A new handheld ultrasound device that connects to your iPhone and can fit easily into your pocket has been developed and could soon be shipped out to 40 million practitioners across the globe.
Butterfly Network, a start-up company founded by Jonathan Rothberg, first unveiled the device in October 2017 after The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave it the thumbs up for 13 applications, the broadest clearance to date for such a device.
The start-up company has now announced it has raised $250 million in a series D fundraising round, with investments from Fosun Pharma, Fidelity and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The ultrasound device, named Butterfly IQ, will be used by a physician to scan a patient’s body who will then be able to immediately view the images on an iPhone. This will dramatically cut down patients’ waiting time and as the machines are expected to cost no more than $2,000 each, compared to the average $7,000 cost of an ultrasound machine, saving thousands for the healthcare sector.
Dr. John Martin, Butterfly Network’s chief medical officer said: “By removing the barrier of price, I expect Butterfly to ultimately replace the stethoscope in the daily practice of medicine. We can now provide a diagnostic system to address the millions of children that die of pneumonia each year and the hundreds of thousands of women that die in childbirth, and these are just two examples of the impact this technology will have.”
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