Montreal’s Reacts (Remote Education, Augmented Communication, Training and Supervision) platform, created by Innovative Imaging Technologies Inc. (IIT), will be used to revolutionize remote collaboration in portable ultrasound. Selected by Philips to augment its Lumify portable ultrasound system, Reacts will enable Philips to offer the world’s first integrated tele-ultrasound solution.

This ground-breaking innovation connects clinicians around the globe in real time by turning a compatible smart device into an integrated tele-ultrasound machine, combining two-way audio and visual calls with live ultrasound streaming via Reacts. This innovation in point-of-care ultrasound brings new, virtual possibilities to its users both inside and outside hospital walls. As well as enabling live sharing of the Philips Lumify ultrasound stream, this medical innovation will offer bidirectional sharing of audio, webcam video stream and interactive virtual pointers. With the flip of a camera on a smart device, functionality will extend to face-to-face conversations with real-time ultrasound image and probe positioning.

“The unprecedented mobility and reliability of Philips Lumify with Reacts will open up new doors for the way clinicians collaborate, educate and train,” said Randy Hamlin, Point-of-Care Business Leader, Philips. “This all-in-one tele-ultrasound solution will change care delivery by bringing even more confidence to ultrasound clinicians and removing longstanding barriers in education, support and training.”

This solution virtually brings experts into an ultrasound exam anywhere in the world:

• A professor can go on virtual ultrasound rounds with students, helping them learn anatomy and probe positioning quickly and efficiently, unrestricted by location. 
• A doctor can consult a colleague and collaborate using live streaming ultrasound. 
• A midwife in a remote location can call upon an obstetrician who is miles away to receive perspective and guidance, discussing the ultrasound exam as if they were in the same room. 
• An emergency medical technician in an ambulance can stream a live ultrasound exam and discuss a patient’s condition with an emergency department physician, expediting appropriate care delivery upon arrival. 

“Philips was the ideal partner for this revolutionary collaboration,”stated Dr. Yanick Beaulieu, MD, FRCPC, CEO of IIT and creator of Reacts.“Reacts’ secure, versatile and interactive collaboration platform deployed on technology solutions like Lumify can change education and patient care models and enable a positive disruptive change to healthcare,” said Dr. Beaulieu.

Dr. Beaulieu leads a multi-disciplinary team specialized in multimedia and software development. As well, IIT is currently collaborating with several major hospitals in Québec, Canada and abroad, as well as innovation and health care focused organizations like Joule, a Canadian Medical Association company.

The Reacts interactive collaboration platform integrated with the Philips Lumify mobile ultrasound system will be available in Canada and globally, everywhere Lumify is sold.