Paediatric and neonatal ultrasound has two difficulties adult ultrasound does not. The anatomy is small, and the window between one rib and the next is narrow in the same proportion. And the patient moves, cries and does not cooperate, in a picture that changes fast.
Add a limit that is not technical: repeated practice on a real infant runs into ethical and safety considerations that do not arise with adults. It is the point where learning by exposure meets a ceiling.
BabyWorks puts the practice before the patient. The manikin carries anatomical landmarks, and the library runs past 10,000 pathology variations across brain, heart, lungs, abdomen and bladder, taken from real cases. The range goes from general screening to complex cardiac pathology, such as transposition of the great arteries.
There are three modules: POCUS, transthoracic echocardiography and transoesophageal echocardiography. Training can be led by an instructor, who changes pathology, severity and rates on the tablet during the examination, or followed by the trainee alone, at their own pace.
The product was developed with clinical partners, among them Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
