Pulmonary ultrasound training protocol for patients with COVID-19 using phantom-specific

• Grant number: 20/09083-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2020
• End date: September 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering - Medical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Adilton Oliveira Carneiro
• Grantee: Ariane Franson Sanches
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ultrasonography has advantages over other methods of diagnostic imaging because it does not use ionizing radiation, provides a quick examination and has good mobility. In addition, ultrasound devices are more readily available in hospitals and clinics and are more easily sanitized, which facilitates their use. With this in mind, and in view of the current pandemic of the new coronavirus, this project aims to create a specific lung simulator (phantom) for ultrasound training and that has characteristics equivalent to those of a lung of a patient with COVID-19 who has Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Ultrasound images will be performed with lung phantom and compared to lung images obtained from patients who were affected by the virus to evaluate the model. Pulmonary ultrasonography is still an unusual test in clinical centers due to its great difficulty in performing and evaluating images, as the air inside the lungs is a strong limitation in the propagation of ultrasonic waves in the internal organ structures. However, patterns of echogenicity of these waves on pulmonary ultrasound indicate parameters characteristic of the abnormalities caused by SARS. With the results of this work, we intend to expand the scientific dissemination about physical characteristics of the interaction of ultrasound with lung tissues and also the skills of health professionals in the use of ultrasound as a support tool in the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of patients with COVID-19. Providing assistance in the training of this technique through the phantom-specific with physical and acoustic characteristics equivalent to those of the lung tissues, it will be possible to expand the use of pulmonary ultrasound in clinical centers.