Uses for Point of Care Ultrasounds

 After earning his MD from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Dr. Jason Jaramillo joined Maimonides Medical Center. Now with Weiner and Gallo as a physician focusing on thoracic health, Jason Jaramillo, MD, is also currently pursuing a certification for point of care ultrasound (POCUS) to facilitate more prompt diagnostic care.

POCUS utilizes a portable ultrasound machine to diagnose specific medical problems. Rather than hauling an ultrasound cart throughout a hospital and relying on ultrasound-specific technicians, a surgeon, emergency room nurse, or other specialist can use the smaller POCUS, even hooking it up to a laptop. The procedure is the same as with traditional ultrasound machines - the physician coats the relevant body area with a conductive gel and touches that area with the handheld transducer, sometimes applying slight pressure. The transducer’s sound waves bounce off the patient’s internal structures, leading to the creation of a visual representation of the area being examined. The practitioner can then use the images to diagnose the patient without using a larger device.

POCUS is extremely useful because it can diagnose patients even in settings without the sterilization practices of hospitals, like ambulances or areas far from traditional healthcare settings. Some models even allow for hands-free operation, in locations with increased risk of contamination. Issues a POCUS can diagnose quickly include acute problems like internal bleeding or blood clots, shortening the time between diagnosis and surgery or other treatment.

Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Systems Projected to Grow Exponentially

 An experienced general physician in Brooklyn, New York, Jason Jaramillo, MD, operates a private practice tied to the top-ranked Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park. He earned his MD from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine after graduating with a BS in chemistry and BA in Spanish from Hillsdale College in Michigan. Staying current with new diagnostic technologies, Dr. Jason Jaramillo counts point-of-care ultrasound among his areas of clinical interest.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is part of a bigger point-of-care (POC) movement that has permeated all corners of the healthcare industry. Like all POC fields, POCUS strives to place as many medical and administrative activities as possible at the specific site of patient care, generally providing bedside diagnostics using handheld ultrasound devices.

According to an independent economic research report by Data Bridge Market Research, the POCUS market will likely undergo an exponential growth rate of 6.54 percent through 2028. The report specifically points to a global increase in emergency room patient admissions and a deepening need to boost functional efficiency as major factors in this growth. To address these issues, organizations are increasingly embracing POCUS as a way to streamline healthcare processes while reducing operational spending.

How Focused Ultrasound Targets Regions Deep in the Body

 Based in New York City, Jason Jaramillo, MD, practices at the Maimonides Medical Center and provides community focused care. In his work as an MD, Dr. Jason Jaramillo delivers diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS).

Not limited to diagnostics, the uses of ultrasound include the emerging field of focused ultrasound (FUS), which is guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Employing a wide range of FUS intensities, this approach preserves nearby organs while having neuroelectric, mechanical, and thermal effects on the targeted tissues. Among US-approved FUS treatments are those for osteoid osteoma, bone metastases, and Parkinson’s disease-related tremors.

One way of conceptualizing FUS is that it’s like employing a magnifying glass in focusing beams of light on a point and burning a hole in paper. Rather than an optical lens, an acoustic lens focuses several ultrasound energy beams in accurately targeting a point deep within the body. Interesting, each individual beam has the same limited power of diagnostic ultrasound, until they are targeted at a focal convergence point.

POCUS Reduces Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

 Brooklyn, New York doctor Jason Jaramillo, MD treats patients at the private community healthcare center Medical Allied Associates. With an MD from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Dr. Jason Jaramillo has professional interests that include point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), an emerging technology that allows physicians to perform an ultrasound exam from any location.

POCUS is a portable device that can be used with a smartphone or tablet to capture high-resolution, real-time images that can be viewed in minutes. More importantly, it allows physicians to ask specific questions to make diagnoses or rule out conditions.

A safety benefit of this technology is that there is no exposure to ionizing radiation, unlike traditional ultrasounds or x-rays. Ionizing radiation is energy that removes electrons from atoms/molecules found in the air, water, and living tissue.

It occurs naturally (in low levels) and is man-made, and in high amounts, it has harmful effects on the body after being absorbed. Exposure to ionizing radiation in high amounts leads to cells dying because of the damage to DNA. Prolonged exposure might lead to skin burns, cancer, or cardiovascular conditions.

American Thoracic Society Member Education and Research Benefits

Dr. Jason Jaramillo earned his doctor of medicine in 2005, and for 15 years he has been working in healthcare leadership positions. In 2017, Jason Jaramillo, MD, presented the work “Achromobacter Xylosoxidans And Enterovirus-Rhinovirus Co-Infection Causing Ards In A Patient With An Underlying Genetic Condition” at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), held in Washington, D.C..

ATS is an international society with over 16,000 members dedicated to advancing the science and clinical understanding of critical illnesses, pulmonary diseases, and sleep-related breathing disorders. The ATS membership program is offered to physicians, nurses, researchers, respiratory therapists, and other professionals interested in the organization and its mission to study, prevent, and eradicate lung disease.

The program grants these professionals several educational and research benefits, including access to leading-edge publications and medical journals, such as the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and email subscriptions to the ATS News and the ATS Morning Minute. Members also receive discounted access to the Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical, and Operations Research (MECOR) program, which prepares practitioners and researchers to plan and conduct industry-relevant investigations. Besides the MECOR program discounts, ATS members pay reduced fees for admission to the International Conference and when purchasing the Respiratory Medicine Book Series. 

How ARDS Affects the Lung

The recipient of a 2015 co-intern of the year award, Jason Jaramillo, MD, serves as a physician at Maimonides Medical Center. In 2017, at the national meeting of the American Society of Thoracic Surgeons held in Washington, D.C., Dr. Jason Jaramillo did a poster presentation titled “Achromobacter Xylosoxidans And Enterovirus-Rhinovirus Co-Infection Causing ARDS In A Patient With An Underlying Genetic Condition.”

A condition that often causes lung failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) happens when a patient has difficulty breathing as a result of leakage of fluid in the lungs. The fluid leaks from inflamed small vessels within the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs). This can result from a serious injury to the body such as an accident, pneumonia, swelling of the pancreas, a serious infection, and the inhalation of toxic substances like smoke. The condition may also result from a blood transfusion.

The fluid in the lung makes it stiff. This stiffness causes hypoxemia, which is characterized by low oxygen in the blood, resulting - in this case - from difficulty inflating the lung. If the inflammation worsens and more fluid accumulates, the lung scars (the fibrotic stage of ARDS). During this stage, the lung may eventually collapse.

The American Board of Internal Medicine's MOC Program

Jason Jaramillo, MD, is based in Brooklyn, New York, and holds a New York State medical license. As a physician, Jason Jaramillo, MD, works at Maimonides Medical Center and its affiliated community private practice, Allied Medical Associates. Currently, Dr. Jason Jaramillo is eligible for certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

Founded in 1936, the ABIM is a non-profit organization that exists to uphold standards for internal medicine and provide certification for physicians. Internists who hold certification through the ABIM have demonstrated that they possess the clinical skills, expertise, and character required to deliver the highest quality of patient care. The ABIM operates the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program to assist physicians with keeping their medical knowledge current while also staying informed about evolving healthcare practices.

The ABIM's MOC program provides medical assessments for licensed physicianinternal medicines and ensures that certification examinations remain relevant by continuously collaborating with healthcare providers. Research demonstrates that physicians who participate in the MOC program to ensure their certification remains current reduce US spending on Medicare, are more likely to provide high standards of patient care, and are less likely to encounter disciplinary action.