ICUS Commends New Proposal Supporting CEUS Training for Sonographers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Although contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a safe, low-cost and reliable diagnostic imaging tool, many sonographers tasked with administering ultrasound scans enter the profession without being exposed to CEUS. Fortunately, that anomaly may soon change, according to the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS).

New standards proposed by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), if adopted, will require students at accredited sonography training programs to demonstrate knowledge of CEUS -- including basic principles, safety and administration, routes of transmission, common clinical applications and enhancement patterns.

According to an ICUS statement submitted Thursday in support of the draft standards, “ICUS commends CAAHEP for addressing the urgent need to expand CEUS training so that sonography students at accredited programs will acquire fundamental CEUS knowledge and skills.”

CEUS utilizes microbubble ultrasound contrast agents (sometimes called “enhancing agents”) that are infused intravenously during an ultrasound exam to enhance images. CEUS is used worldwide in adults and children to diagnose heart and vascular disease, identify and characterize tumors, monitor chronic gastro-intestinal diseases, evaluate other serious medical conditions and monitor therapy.

ICUS has been a strong advocate for CEUS training in sonography schools so students enter the profession fully equipped to determine when a CEUS examination should be performed, can place an intravenous line and administer ultrasound contrast agents. These tasks are consistent with the Scope of Practice and Clinical Standards for the Diagnostic Medical Sonographer recently updated by the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography.

The draft CAAHEP standards align with CEUS content recently added to the National Education Curriculum, a consensus-based guide for sonography educators. ICUS provided the new CEUS content.

The draft CAAHEP standards represent “a third and vital step toward empowering sonographers to play a meaningful role in performing CEUS studies,” according to ICUS.

“CEUS training for sonography students is vital to ensuring broader patient access to one of the most significant advances in diagnostic imaging,” said Maria Stanczak, an ICUS board member and sonography educator.

About ICUS

The International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS) is a nonprofit medical society dedicated to advancing the safe and medically appropriate use of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to improve patient care globally. ICUS membership is free, and there is no charge for the organization’s CME-accredited webinars, newsletters and CEUS resources on its website. To join ICUS and learn more about CEUS, visit www.icus-society.org and download ICUS CONNECT, the free ICUS mobile app for Apple and Android devices.