Tailored ultrasound support advances anaesthesia research at Nottingham medical school
Probo Medical has helped equip a research project at the University of Nottingham Medical School, supplying a GE HealthCare NextGen Logiq e ultrasound system to support postgraduate researcher Osama Natto in his investigation of needle visualisation during simulated ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA).
UGRA allows clinicians to see a needle in real time as it approaches a nerve, improving placement accuracy and reducing risk to surrounding structures. For patients, that means better pain relief, lower anaesthetic doses and fewer complications. For researchers like Natto, it means a reproducible, measurable environment in which to study needle visualisation, task performance, skill acquisition and visual attention during simulated UGRA procedures.
Ultrasound specialist Tamara Harwood worked closely with Natto to ensure the system arrived with tailored pre-sets optimised for his specific application. Adjustments to frequency, gain, dynamic range and beam steering all enhanced contrast resolution and needle conspicuity, giving the consistent image quality needed to accurately measure task completion time, accuracy and visual attention patterns captured through eye-tracking data.
Read this report on page 13 of the July 2026 issue of RAD Magazine.
